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W.  W.  WILLOCKS. 


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,;Ta7"HEN  these  letters  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  NEW 
nJ  y\[  REPUBLICAN  it  was  not  our  intention  or  purpose  that 
ley  should  assume  any  other  form,  and  only  at  the  solicitation  of 
umerous  friends,  even  put  ihem  in  this  small  book  form,  witl- 
nt  change,  in  the  greatest  simplicity  of  style,  unworthy  of  criti- 
siD,  the  whole  journey  a  chain  of  facts  with  but  little  coloring, 
id  many  worthy  objects  and  places  unnoticed,  leaving  the  south 
"  Europe  and  the  east  for  the  next  visit  under  contemplation. 

Respectfully  yours, 
Maysville,  Ky.,  March  22,  1883.  W.    W.    W. 


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With  Incidents  in  Scotland,  Ice- 
land  and  England,   by 
W,  W,  Willacks, 


4 


,T  T  is  nothing  unusual,  but  an  incident  of  al- 
most  daily  occurrence,  to  see  a  man  with  his 
traveling  satchel  slung  across  his  shoulder 
,_and  gripsack  m  hand,  starting  for  Europe. 
Even  ladies  are  no»  by  any  means  backward  in  getting 
their  sea-faring  equipments  ready,  and  signifying  their 
intentions  of  accompanying  their  liege  lords  across  the 
Atlantic.  This  is  well,  for  a  man  alone  on  a  journey 
of  this  kind  presents  but  a  sorry  picture  without  the 
controlling  influence  and  comforting  power  of  a  kind 
hearted  woman  Unfortunately,  to  this  miserable, 
lonely  class,  we  belong,  so  I  am  very  much  afraid  the 
description  will  Ik-  rather  dry  and  commonplace.  How- 
ever, we  will  do  our  best,  as  some  other  person  in  the 
same  condition  may  think  of  making  the  trip  and  may 


461471 


2  To  Europe  and  Back. 

be  able  to  derive  some  benefit  from  the  happenings  on 
the  route  which  we  traveled 

Having  made  up  our  mind  to  revisit  the  land  of  our 
nativity,  dear  old  Scotia,  on  tlie  5th  of  June,  we  com- 
menced to  put  our  plans  into  execution,  so  in  the  com- 
pany of  our  genial  friend,  captain  T  we  stepned  on 
board  the  good  steamer  Bonanza,  en  route  for  Europe, 
undecided  as  to  the  actual  route  or  steamship  line  we 
should  take.  Leaving  and  leave  taking  is  not  a  very 
pleasant  business,  so  we  will  omit  this  sentimental 
part  It  is  not  the  leave  taking  that  makes  one  fee] 
badly,  but  the  kindly  actions,  good  wishes  and  hearty 
band  shaking,  that  causes  the  heart  to  throb,  and  per- 
haps moisten  the  eye,  however  hardened  we  may  he, 
but  although  we  do  drop  a  tear,  it  must  not  he  consid- 
ered uninanlv,  for  a  heart  that  cannot  have  some 
emotional  expression  of  gratitude  for  kindness  received, 
that  person  had  better  stay  at  home  and  live  and  die 
in  his  own  conceit.  As  the  steamer  stood  out  towards 
the  middle  of  the  liver  and  sped  rapidly  down  the 
stream  on  the  bosom  of  the  beautiful  Ohio,  we  could 
not  help  casting  a  longing  look  on  the  receding  forms 
of  those  true,  kind  hearts,  that  had  gathered  on  the 
wharf  to  say  God  speed.  You  need  not  doubt  that  our 
lingering  gaze  rested  on  dear  old  Maysville.  the  fair 
little  city  resting  so  cozily  at  the  foot  of  those  green 
Kentucky  hills,  and  not  until  the  dim  outlines  of  the 
houses  disappeared  in  the  distance,  could  our  eyes 
turn  from  what  we  were  leaving  behind.  But,  up, 
merry  heart,  we  must  mingle  with  the  shifting  world. 
June  the  Oth  find-  us  in  the  Queen  City,  doing  our  best 
to  drive  a  good  bargain  with  the  various  R.  }{.  and  S. 
8.  ticket  agents.  Finally,  after  considerable  maneu- 
vering, we  decided  on  the  Quebec  route,  as  it  would 
cost  us  very  little  more  than  via.  New  York  and  give 
us  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the  beautiful  and  majestic 
scenery  along  the  St.  Lawrence  river  Having  read 
and  heard  so  much  about  the  pleasures  of  a  sail  towards 
the  gulf,  we  were  not  disappointed,  for  it  proved  very 
pleasant  indeed.  Having  arranged  all  of  our  ex- 
changes, drafts,  &c,  which,  by  the  way,  ought  always 
to  be  done  before  starting,  thus  obviating  all  trouble 
afterw  ir.l-j,  as  a  draft  on  die  B  ink  of  England  is  good  in 
any  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  a  letter  of  credit  easily 


To  Europe  and  Back.  3 

obtained  for  any  part  of  Europe,  but  not  for  such  a 
small  amoun<  >s  could  he  given  in  the  shape  of  a  draft. 
Tlit- cost  of  tickets  to  Quebec  is  J?2H,  including  meals  on 
board  the  steamers  part  of  the  way,  only  $10  in  excess 
of  via  New  York.  Steamship  fare  from  Quebec  to  Liv- 
erpool, is  $65  and  S40  according  to  location,  but  a 
little  discount  can  he  had  fr<  in  tl  <  se  fipuies  by  holding 
out  a  little  At  1:30  p.  in.  we  are  speeding  on  the  way 
towards  Cleveland.  At  Crestline  an  amusing  episode 
occurred  which  was  nearly  attended  with  serious  eon- 
sequences.  Two  friends  had  made  up  their  minds  to 
have  a  drink  while  the  ears  were  waiting.  The  one 
was  from  the  Faderland  and  the  other  a  worthy  repre- 
sentative of  the  Emerald  Isle  Fritz  Hummel)  invites 
Mike  to  have  a  beer.  The  persuasive  eloquence  of  Mr. 
Hummed  so  hegui'ed  the  ear  of  his  friend,  and  wasted 
the  time,  that  neither  of  them  noticed  that  the  train 
was  in  motion.  On  becoming  aware  that  he  was  being 
left  behind,  Mike  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice  (which 
hv  the  way  was  equal  to  the  whistle  ot  a  locomotive) 
"  hould  mi  Mr.  conductor,  plaze,  we  are  going  along 
wid  yees."  "  Oh,  mine  God,"  yelled  Mr.  Fritz  Hum- 
med, "youshust  he  after  starting  them  cars  that  did 
not  stop.  Mine  friend  Mike  must  not  be  left  behind 
a  tier  he  gits  aboard."  Finally  both  the  cronies  were 
dragged  up  the  steps  amidst  many  threats  and  curses, 
and  on  we  sped.  Captain  T.  was  happy,  be  had  pur- 
chased a  piece  of  nice  spring  chicken,  hut  we  soon  no- 
ticed a  frown  in  his  countenance,  it  proving  only  to  be 
the  wing  of  a  centennial  rooster.  At  10:15  p.  m.  Cleve- 
land is  reached.  A  fine  city  on  Lake  Erie,  a  good  de- 
pot, having  the  Brush  electric  lijrht  for  lighting  purpo- 
ses. We  are  now  on  the  Lake  Shore  Road,  for  Erie 
and  Buffalo.  At  1  a.  m  the  former  place  is  reached. 
Leaving  Erie  in  the  distance,  we  were  soon  horrified 
to  hear  the  conductor  call  out  Ashtabula,  the  name  al- 
most chilled  us  with  horror,  however  no  accident  hap- 
pened this  time  At  4  a.  m.  we  reach  the  quaint  old 
city  of  Buffalo;  have  five  hours  to  spare  and  take  a 
look  at  the  city.  Observing  a  door  plate  with  the  name 
Vennor  on  it,  we  asked  a  policeman  whetner  the 
weather  prophet  lived  there,  but  were  chilled  by  the  re- 
ply that  it  was  only  a  dentist  that  occupied  the  premi- 
ses.    June  9;  leave  at  9  a.  m.  for  Niagara,  which  place 


4  To  Europe  and  Back. 

is  reached  about  10  a.  m.    This  hour's  ride  is  through  a 
beautiful  fruit  country,  the  apple  trees  being  in   full 
bloom,  a  goo  1  deal  later  than  in  old  Keutueky.     Little 
need   be  said   of  the  falls,  as  they  have  been   so  often 
and  ably  describe  1  by  others.    8  ili  *e  it  to  say,  then, 
that  they  are  majestic,  g'and,  sublime.     Leaving  the 
falls  at  11  a.  m   we  take  the  cars  and  shoot  down  a  deep 
declivity,  the  turbulent  waters  of  the  Niagara  roaring, 
foaming  and    hissing   beneath    us   as    we    rush    along 
its  precipices,  where  we  make  the  connection  with  the 
si  earner  ChiCOra,  seven  miles  below  the  fall.     Here  are 
the  remnants  of  a  bridge,  which  at  one  time  connect*  d 
Lewiston,  on  the  American  side,  with  that  of  Queens- 
town,  on  the  Canadian  side.     This  bridge  was  destroyed 
by  ice  in  the  winter  of  1864.     As   we    pass   down    the 
river  we  notice   on    the   heights  to  the  left  the  Brock 
monument,  with  a  colossal    statue  on   the   top  ol    the 
dome.     At  the  mouth  of  the  river  are  the  two  villages, 
Youngstown   on    the   American  side,  and  Niagara  on 
tlte  Canadian  side.     Old  forts  are  to  be  seen  at   these 
places.     At  1  p.  m.  we  are  speeding  across  Lake  Onta- 
rio.   Captain  T.  believes  he  is  going  to  he  sick.     Ad- 
vise him  to  have  a  good  dinner  which  makes  him  all 
right  again.      Lose  sight  of  land  at  this  point.     At  '1  p. 
ni.  reach  the  beautiful  city  of  Toronto,  a  very  tine  place, 
but  we  have  not  time  to  describe  it,  her  majesty's  offi- 
cers eyeing  us  suspiciously  as  we  stepped  from  the  f ///- 
corn,  to  tiie  steamer  Corsican  which  was   waiting  to 
convey  us  to  Montreal.     Here  a  little   discrepancy  oc- 
curs iu  regard  to  our  tickets,  but  all  is  set  right  in  a  lew 
minutes,  when  we  start  across  the  lake  m  a  north  east- 
erly   direction    towards   Kingston,  a  strongly   fortified 
place  one  hundred  ami  twenty  seven  miles  from  Mon- 
treal.    Have  very  good  meals  on  this  steamer,  but  on 
the  whole  we  are  not  favorably  impressed  with  the  av- 
erage Canadian.     Although  some  are  kind  and  couite- 
OUS,  many  are  cold  and  austere      We  are  again  out  of 
sight  of  land,  piss  a  very  pleasant  night,   with  perhaps 
pleasant  dreams  of  those  we  had  left  behind  and  bright 
anticipations   of  the   grand  sights  awaiting  us  on  the 
morrow,   when  we  would    pass  through  the  Thousand 
Islands.     So,   full  of  these    thoughts,   let   us   rest  while 
the  good  steamer  is  wafting  us  over  the  lake  at  the  rate 
of  twenty  miles  an  hour 


LETTER'  NO,  2, 


DOWN  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE. 


On  June  8th,  at  4:10  a.  m.,  we  were  aroused  from  our 
slumbers  by  the  Corsicau  blowing  her  whistle  for  Kings- 
ton. Here  we  found  that  there  would  be  an  hour  to 
spare,  so  we  took  the  opportunity  of  seeing  a  little  of  the 
city  while  the  steamer  was  laying  in  a  supply  ol  wood, 
which  seemed  to  be  very  plentiful  at  tins  point.  There 
are  no  buildings  of  particular  interest  in  Kingston,  but 
it  is  a  clean,  neat,  and  apparently  well-kept  city,  with 
wide  streets,  good  fire  department,  and  extensively 
fortified,  being  the  third  city  in  the  Dominion  in  this 
regard.  The  best  hotel  in  the  place  is  the  British 
American.  A  settlement  was  begun  here  by  the 
French  about  the  year  1762. 

Though  the  hour  was  early,  yet  we  had  the  pleasure 
of  meeting  a  solitary  pedestrian,  out  no  doubt,  for  the 
purpose  of  earning  a  morning  dram.  He  seemed  very 
polite  and  anxious  to  show  us  the  principal  places  of 
interest  The  hands  of  the  clock  were  pointing  to  5, 
so  we  gave  him  a  United  States  dime,  and  bade  him 
adieu.  We  were  not  certain  whether  our  money 
would  pass,  l)iii  the  gentleman  appeared  to  be  satisfied, 
that  he  could  obtain  the  desired  drink  for  it.  We 
thought  so  to.  The  best  money  in  the  world  ;  of  course 
it  would  pass!  We  mail  some  letters  at  this  place,  and 
at  5  a.  m.  the  steamers  bell  sounded  and  we  again  stood 
out  from  the  pier.  Soon  leaving  Kingston  far  behind, 
we  found  ourselves  after  breakfast  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  beautiful  and  justly  famous  "Thousand 
Islands."  .  We  were  a  little  out  of  sorts  caused  by  the 
curious  stiffness  of  the  people  at  the  breakfast  table, 
but  all  unkind  feelings  were  very  soon  dispelled  by  the 
beautiful  sight  that  greeted  the  eye  in  every  direction. 
We  were  for  the  time  being  spell  bound,  and  felt  as 
though  we  could  bow  the  head  in  honor  of  nature's 
grandeur.  Pen  cannot  begin  to  give  a  description  ot 
the  grand,  magnificent  and  sublime  scenery  on  which 
the  eye  rested,  although  it  looked  a  little  gloomy,  and 


6  To  Europe  and  Back. 

indeed,  rained  a  little  in  the  early  part  of  the  morning. 
Tt  soon  cleared  off  and  became  bright  and  pleasant  giv- 
ing us  the  full  benefit  of  seeing  and  admiring  the  beau- 
ties around  us.  These  beautiful  islands  or  islets  extend 
over  a  distance  of  fifty-five  miles  towards  Brockville 
and  Prescott.  There  are  upwards  of  two  thousand  of 
these  woody,  rocky  islets,  of  every  imaginable  shape, 
size  and  apperance,  some  being  mere  specks  a  few 
yards  in  extent,  while  others  covered  several  acres, 
thickly  wooded  and  presenting  the  most  charming  ap- 
pearance of  rich  foliage  conceivable  We  have  often 
seen  a  panoramic  view  of  this  delightful  scenery  on 
canvass,  but  the  original  far  surpasses  the  efforts  of  the 
painter's  brush.  At  times  our  vessel  passed  so  close  to 
these  islands  that  a  pebble  might  have  been  cast  on 
their  shores.  While  standing  on  the  bow  of  the 
steamer  looking  ahead,  it  appeared  as  if  further  prog- 
ress was  completely  barred,  when  rounding  the  points 
amid  winding  passages  and  bays  the  way  gradually 
opened  before  us.  Again  the  river  seems  to  come  to 
an  abrupt  termination  but  as  we  approach  the  threat- 
ening shores  a  channel  suddenly  appears,  and  we  are 
hurled  into  a  beautiful  ampirheatre  or  lake,  apparently 
bounded  on  all  sides  by  a  soft  hank  of  forest  green.  As 
we  approach  this  leafy  boundary  the  scene  is  changed 
as  suddenly  as  if  by  the  wand  of  a  magician,  and  a 
hundred  little  isles  appear  in  its  place.  Endless  varie- 
ties of  gay  plumaged  song  birds  are  fluttering  about, 
exchanging  morning  greetings  with  each  other  Wild 
fowl  are  also  plentiful  Q<  ar  the  larger  islands  while  fish 
in  large  quantities  and  of  great  size  are  to  be  seen  sport- 
ing about  in  the  clear  water,  giving  a  good  opportuni- 
ty of  seeing  them.  Of  course  we  could  not  tell  the 
different  species  and  did  not  have  time  to  stop  to  make 
enquiry,  they  looked  however,  as  if  they  might  befit 
for  an  American  to  eat  if  properly  prepared. 

A  good  many  cottages,  summer  residences  and  beau- 
tiful villas  are  to  be  seen  dotted  all  through  these 
islands.  On  one  of  them  Mr.  Pullman,  of  palace  car 
fame,  has  erected  a  neat  summer  villa.  There  are  no 
doubt  many  romantic  stories  in  connection  with  these 
beautiful  islands  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  even  sto- 
ries of  love  and  devoted  affection  are  told  as  happening 
among  them,  and,  as  in  every  true  romance,  woman, 


To  Europe  and  Back.  7 

always  courageous  and  self-sacrificing,  largely  figures. 
But  we  must  not  stop  to  enquire  about  this,  else  we 
may  not  be  able  to  get  back  to  Europe  at  all,  so  pass 
through  these  beautiful  isles  of  the  lake  and  reach 
Brockvilleat  10  a.  m.,  thence  making  our  way  to  Pres- 
cott  ut  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour,  for  be  it  un  Jer- 
stood  that  our  steamer  runs  on  time.  In  this  regard 
we  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  old  Kentucky  Central 
Railroad,  always  behind  time  and  out  of.  joint.  We 
are  now  in  the  St.  Lawrence  proper,  and  swiftly  gliding 
along;  at  11:30  we  are  at  Preseott  a  small  place.  If  you 
wish  to  go  to  Ottawa,  the  capital  of  the  Dominion,  you 
take  the  cars  at  this  point,  a  three  hours  ride.  A  little 
below  this  place  we  notice  the  ruins  of  a  windmill,  said 
to  be  a  celebrated  place,  hence  called  Wind  Mill  Point- 
We  are  now  nearing  the  great  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
Atl  p.  m.,  we  find  ourselves  passing  rapidly  down  the 
Long  Sault.  This  is  very  exciting,  the  vessel  is  carried 
onward  without  steam  at  the  rate  of  twenty  and  twenty- 
five  miles  an  hour.  The  water  presents  the  appearance 
of  the  ocean  in  a  storm,  but  the  steamer  lacks  the  ordi 
nary  turning  and  pitching  of  the  sea.  Tbe  going  down 
hill  by  water  produces  a  novel  sensation.  These  rapids 
are  nine  miles  in  length.  It  requires  four  men  at  the 
wheel  and  the  tiller  to  ensure  safe  steering  Here  a  lit- 
tle incident  occurred  which  caused  some  alarm.  The  ta- 
bles had  been  spread  for  dinner,  when  the  swift  current 
caught  the  steamer,  causing  her  to  lurch  and  lean  over 
to  one  side,  scaring  many  of  the  passengers  and  demol- 
ishing quite  a  large  quantity  of  crockery  and  glassware. 
But  we  are  soon  in  smooth  water  again  and  have  a 
good  dinner  notwithstanding  this  mishap.  We  now 
pass  through  lake  St.  Francis,  about  forty  miles  across, 
atter  which  we  enter  tbe  Coteau  or  Cedar  rapids. 
These  are  not  so  long  as  the  former,  but  the  passage  is 
very  exciting.  As  the  vessel  glides  from  one  ledge  of 
rock  to  another,  one  holds  his  breath,  as  we  watch  her 
from  the  deck,  expecting  every  moment  to  see  and 
feel  her  strike.  But  a  careful,  steady  and  skillful  hand 
is  at  the  helm  and  we  pass  in  safety. 

A  little  below  this  the  Ottawa  river  joins  the  great 
St.  Lawrence.  This  is  a  very  muddy  stream  and  it 
runs  many  miles  before  it  ioses  its  identity.  Next 
comes  the  greatest  of  all,  the  Laehine  rapids,  here  our 


8  To  Europe  and  Back. 

steamer  is  impelled  onward  through  a  narrow  opening 
between  massive  ledges  of  rock,  a  few  feet  to  one  side  or 
the  oilier,  and  the  vessel  would  have  been  dashed  to 
pieces  but  the  strong  arm  of  our  pilot  takes  it  fair,  holds 
her  steady,  and  we  pass  through  the  last  of  the  rapids 
in  safely.     We  are  now  within  sight  of  the  spin's,  tur- 
rets and  smoke  stacks  of  Montreal,  the  metropolis  of 
the  country.     By  the  way  we  have  now  Canadian  soil 
on  both  sides  of  the  river.    The  celebrated    Victoria 
bridge  looms  up  in  the  distance.     We  watch   it  very 
closely  as  the  steamer  passes  underneath.     This  is  cer- 
tainly a  grand  structure,  tubular  in  form,     it  was  with 
some  difficulty  that  we  were  able  to  count  the  number 
of  piers,  our  vessel  being  so  swift.      The  tube  through 
which  the  trains  pass  (the  Grand  Trunk  R.  R.)  rests 
upon   twenty-four   piers  and   is  one  and   one-quarter 
miles  long.     We  cannot  give  a  minute  or  lengthy  de- 
tail of  this  great  work  in  this  sketch,  for  remember  that 
we  are  hound  for  Europe,  and  therefore  must    hurry 
along.     Suffice  it  to  say,  that  it  is  the  grandest  piece  of 
engineering  skill  of  the   century,   costing   upwards  of 
seven  millions  of  dollars.     We  are  now  at  Montreal,  a 
beautiful  city,  with  fine  docks,  and  splendid  buildings, 
grand  hotels,  and  numerous  Catholic  religious  institu- 
tions.    We  have  not  time  to  numerate  them  all,  for  on- 
ward is  our  motto  at  present.     This  city  contains  about 
ond  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  and   is 
the  largest  city  in  the  Dominion.     Here  we  arc  trans- 
ferred  from   the    Corxican  to    the   steamer    Montreal, 
there  awaiting  us,  and  leave  promptly  at  7  p.  m..    This 
vessel  is  a  good  deal  larger  than  the  former,  large  ves- 
sels not  being  suitable  for  shooting  the  rapids,  or  get- 
ting up  hy  way  of  the  canals  made  for  the  purpose  ol 
avoiding  the  swift  current.     The  evening  is  a   little 
cool,   hut   pleasant.     Have  good  music  on    hoard  from 
this  point,  one  of  the  musicians,  who  performed  on  the 
flute,  reminding  us  very  much  of  our  old  fliend;  Jacob 
Outten,  Jr.     The  gentleman  was  very  polite  and  digni- 
fied, and  we  tried  to  think  whether  we  had  ever  heard 
of  uncle  Jake  playing  on  the  (lute,  hut  could  not  remem- 
ber  of  him   doing  anything  of  the  kind,  and   so  dis- 
missed the  idea  as  it   could  not  he  him.     Captain  T.  I 
think,  engaged  him  to  play  several  bhiegrass  airs.     The 
scenery  on  this  part  of  the  river  is  not  so  grand,   al- 


To  Europe  and  Back.  9 

though  very  interesting.    Our  steamer  is  running  very 
rapidly  and  on  getting  up  after  a  pleasant  night's  rest, 
we  find  ourselves  among  the  great  timber  regions,  for 
many  miles  the  river  being  full  of  rafts.     Finally  the 
ancient  city   of  Quebec,  the  Gibraltar  of  the  west,   is 
reached   on  June  9th,  at  6:30  a.  m.     We  have  a  day  to 
spare  here,  and  secure  a  good  hotel  at  $1  50  per  day. 
Very  good  fare,  but  Captain  T.  could  not  relish  fresh 
baddock.     We  enjoyed  it  very  much,  and   added  his 
share  to  our  own. '   We  took  a  look  at  the  fine  steam- 
ship that   was  to  convey  us  across  the  Atlantic,   and 
picked  out  suitable  berths,  after  which  we  have  time 
to  see  something  of  this  strongly  fortified  city  on  the 
hill.     Our   friend   Captain  T.  engaged   in   a  desperate 
flirtation  with  some  young  ladies  in  an  Indian  bazar 
store  while  we    were  attentively  listening  to  a  young 
lady  describing  and  discussing  the  merits  of  an  inclined 
railway,  on  which  we  had  come  down.     The  next  move 
was  to  call  on  the  governor  general  and  the  princess 
Louise,  who  were  then  staying  at  the  citadel,  but  we 
did  not  see  either  of  them  at  this  time.     The  hour  was 
too  early  perhaps,  of  course  we  can  assign  no  other  rea- 
son for  not  seeing   them.     So  we  had  to   be  satisfied 
with  examining  the  guns,  ammunition  etc.,  and  taking 
a  look  at  the  building  in  which  the  royal  lady  lived. 
The  soldiers  seeing  us  somewhat   disappointed,    were 
kind  enough  to  show  us  a  dozen  large  dogs  belonging 
to  the  marquis  of  Lome,  and  even  were  so  polite  as  to 
allow  us  to  peep  in  at  the  door  of  the  stables  and  take 
a  look  at  the  rear  part  of  his  excellency's  horses.     How- 
ever we   were  satisfied  that  this   fortress   was  one  of 
great  strength,  for  our  friend  who  has  a  knowledge  of 
such  matters  assured  us  that  there  could  be  no  possible 
way  of  taking  the  place  unless  by  reducing  it  to  starva- 
tion.    The  people  here  are  for  the  most  part  French, 
with  a  few  Irish  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city.     Captain 
T.  said  he  knew  very  well  what  the  Frenchmen  said, 
but  not  could  not  understand  what  they  wanted.     On 
the  whole  we  spent  a  veiy  pleasant  day  in  this  historic 
city,  there  are  so  many  places  of  interest  that  we  can- 
not begin  to  describe  them  all.     We  visited  the  house 
and  went  into  the  small  room  in  which  general  Mont- 
calm held  his  last  council  of  war,  and  where  he  finally 
died.     But  we  must    hurry   on   and    bid  adieu  to  this 


io  To  Europe  and  Back. 

grand  old  place.  Next  morning,  June  Kith  finds  us  on 
board  the  fine  steamship,  Parisian,  of  the  Alau  line. 
At  9:30  a.  m.  the  moorings  are  loosened  and  we  stand 
out  towards  the  middle  of  the  river,  under  cover  of  the 
guns  of  the  citadel.  The  princess  Louise  and  her  hus- 
band appear  on  the  balcony  and  wave  their  handker- 
chiefs, while  a  salute  or  three  guns  are  fired  from  the 
fort,  our  ship  returning  a  similar  salute. 

We  are  now  in  latitude  4(3°  48'  north,  and  longitude 
71°  15'  west,  and  finally  on  our  way  towards  the  At 
lantic. 


LETTER  NO,  3, 


ON  THE  ATLANTIC. 


On  leaving  the  grand  city  of  Quebec  and  its  fortifica- 
tions, we  could  not  repress  the  strange  feeling  of  sad- 
ness which  came  over  us,  for  it  was  bidding  adieu  to 
tne  shores  of  America. 

While  in  this  mood  our  thoughts  turn  to  the  great 
heroes  who  figured  in  the  earlier  history  of  the  country, 
who  had  fought  and  won  their  way  to  fame,  and  whose 
names,  ever  illustrious,  will  be  handed  down  through 
the  coming  ages.  Chief  among  these  are  the  lamented 
Wolfe,  to  whose  memory  the  people  have  erected  a 
suitable  monument,  Murray,  Montgomery  and  many 
others  whose  ashes  are  resting  in  peace  while  the  brave 
spirits  are  gone  to  meet  the  \Jod  who  gave  them.  As 
we  drop  down  the  stream  there  is  a  good  opportunity 
of  viewing  the  city  towering  on  the  heights  above  us. 
Directly  opposite  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  is 
Point  Levis,  where  there  are  also  great  fortifications 
and  many  large  guns  pointing  us  towards  the  sea. 
There  is  no  annoyance  from  low  water  at  this  point,  for 
the  Great  Eastern  might  cruise  here  at  any  season  of 
the  year,  ice  in  the  winter  being  the  only  barrier. 
Nine  miles  below  Quebec  and  we  come  to  the  beautiful 
cascade  or  falls  of  Montmorenci.  These  falls  which  are 
situated  in  a  beautiful  nook  of  the  river  are  considerably 
higher  than  Niagara,  being  over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  but  they  are  not  very  wide,  being  only  about  fifty 
feet  in  breadth.  We  obtained  a  fine  view  of  them  as 
our  boat  glided  down  the  river.  For  a  hundred  miles 
on  either  side  the  scenery  is  very  pretty  indeed,  more 
soft  and  pleasing  than  it  is  some  distance  above  the 
city.  Passing  down  we  notice  the  river  St.  Anne  as  it 
empties  into  the  St-  Lawrence  about  seventy  miles  be- 
low Quebec,  thence  onward  twenty  miles  more  and  we 
are  in  what  is  called  Murray's  bay.  A  beautiful  vil- 
lage is  here  seen  situated  very  picturesquely  among  the 
frowning  hills  and  wild  scenery,  the  river  here  being 
near  twenty  miles  in  width.     At  10  p.  m.  our  steamer 


12  /'('   hurope  and  Back. 

sounds  her  whistle,  shuts  off  steam,  and  lays  out  in  the 
river  opposite  Tadousac,  a  neat  little  village  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Saguenay  river,  the  largest  tributary  of 

the  great  St.  Lawrence.  Here  we  receive  the  latest 
mail  for  Europe  and  push  on  towards  the  ocean. 

A  little  merriment  took  place  before  retiring  for  the 
night  and  as  the  fun  was  not  at  our  expense  it  was  con- 
sequently the  more  enjoyable,  It  appears  that  there 
had  been  several  tickets  sold  in  excess  of  the  number 
of  berths,  the  parties  thus  crowded  out  being  justly  a 
little  indignant,  but  the  officers  did  all  in  their  po»ver 
to  make  each  one  comfortable  and  remedy  the  over- 
sight as  far  as  possible,  and  soon  succeeded  in  having 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  every  one  bappy  and  con- 
tented with  the  solitary  exception  of  a  portly  lady  from 
Chicago,  who  absolutely  refused  to  be  pleased  or  com- 
forted. The  woman  finally  became  very  indignant  and 
abusive.  She  soon  gave  the  officers  to  understand 
wheie  she  came  from,  and  informed  them  in  a  more 
spirited  than  elegant  maimer  that  she  did  not  propose 
to  be  imposed  upon,  for  she  had  not  lived  sixteen  years 
in  Chicago  for  nothing.  After  all  she  had  to  make  the 
best  of  it,  for  on  board  a  steamship  out  at  sea  you  have 
only  one  choice,  and  that  is  submission,  tor  you  cannot 
so  very  easily  change  steamersat  the  first  way-landing, 
however  uncomfortable  your  quarters  may  he.  Of 
course  the  officers  never  lose  sight  of  this  fact  for  there 
is  not  the  least  intention  on  their  part  of  touching  term- 
firma  until  we  reach  the  shores  of  Erin. 

Sunday,  June  11th,  finds  us  still  speeding  down  the 
St.  Lawrence,  the  coast  or  shore  on  either  side  being 
very  rugged  and  the  landscape  barren,  only  a  scanty 
undergrowth  of  dwarfish  pine  trees  covering  the  dis- 
tant hills.  Although  nearly  midsummer  snow  is  to  be 
seen  in  many  places  among  the  ravines  near  the  sum- 
mitt  of  the  niountains.  We  have  divine  service  at 
four  bells — 10  a.  m. — just  somewhat  as  it  is  on  shore, 
only  moderately  well  attended.  At  noon  the  usual  ob- 
servations are  made  and  we  find  ourselves  in  latitude 
45°  22'  longitude  U25  10'  the  distance  run  during  the 
last  twenty-four  hours  being  three  hundred  miles  or 
knots,  the  knot  being  a  little  over  a  mile.  Water 
smooth,  weather  rather  cool,  wind  west  by  north,  no 
sickness  visible.     On  June  12th   we  find  ourselves  in 


To  Europe  and  Back.  13 

the  gulf  of  .St.  Lawrence  with  the  water  getting  rougher 
and  many  of  our  fellow  passengers  feel  themselves  just 
sick  enough  to  be  uncomfortable,  having  but  little  de- 
sire to  renew  the  pleasant  conversation  of  yesterday. 
Even  our  loquacious  friend,  captain  Tudor,  failed  to  keep 
up  the  animated  description  of  the  celebrated  bluegrass 
country,  and  the  fine  breed  of  fast  trotting  horses 
raised  in  that  region,  for  he  had  really  grown  eloquent 
on  this  subject  the  day  before.  Although  somewhat 
squeamish  we  did  not  become  really  sick.  This  sick- 
ness caused  by  the  motion  of  the  vessel  at  sea  is  some- 
thing that  breaks  one  entirely  up  and  lays  them  out 
sooner  than  any  other  malady  we  know  of.  All  kinds 
of  remedies  are  prescribed  for  it,  both  in  the  way  of 
eatiug  and  drinking,  and  partaken  of  frequently  and  in 
large  quantities,  for  you  are  feeling  so  badly  that  you 
must  take  something,  but  from  experience  and  obser- 
vervation  our  remedy  is  different  and  very  simple.  It 
is:  do  nothing,  take  nothing  in  the  shape  of  food,  until 
there  be  some  feeling  of  hunger,  and  drink  just  as  lit- 
tle as  possible.  Generally  about  the  third  day  there 
will  be  a  desire  for  something  to  eat;  when  this  feel- 
ing conies,  take  a  small  wine  glass  full  of  brandy. 
This  will  settle  the  stomach  and  alter  that  you  will  get 
along  nicely,  with  health  and  appetite  daily  increasing. 
Weather  cool  and  very  foggy.  Distance  run  during 
the  past  day,  two  hundred  ami  sixty  miles,  have  to 
shut  off  steam  to  guard  against  accidents.  At  7  p.  m. 
lose  sight  of  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  and  with  cape 
Race  disappears  the  last  Of  the  American  continent. 
Our  captain  is  very  cautious  and  careful,  and  has  wisely 
decided  not  to  take  the  nearest  route  through  the  straits 
of  Belleisle,  for  he  expected  to  meet  a  good  deal  of  ice, 
and  the  morning  proved  the  correctness  of  his  ideas. 
On  the  13th  of  June,  at  6  a.  m.  we  see  some  very  large 
icebergs,  and  a  grand  sight  it  was.  The  largest  one 
was  about  one  hundred  yards  over  our  port  bow,  in  the 
shape  of  some  old  ruinous  castle  or  gothic-built  cathe- 
dral, with  many  spires  and  turrets,  snowy  white  and 
towering  many  feet  above  the  waves.  These  gigantic 
masses  of  ice  are  supposed  to  be  two-thirds  under  water, 
thus  proving  very  dangerous  customers,  not  giving  any 
warning  or  paying  the  least  attention  to  signals,  so  that 
great  caution  has  to  be  used  in  foggy  weather  which  is 


14  To  Europe  and  Back. 

almost  certain  to  be  found  in  this  latitude.  Many 
small  bergs  are  to  be  seen  during  the  day  drifting  astern 
of  us. 

Here  we  have  the  pleasure  of  making  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  worthy  representative  of  "Old  Caledonia," 
in  the  person  of  old  Sandy  Campbell,  who  after  forty 
years  sojourn  in  Canada,  like  ourself  was  on  his  way  to 
pay  a  visit  to  his  native-  land.  He  was  a  true  Scotch- 
man and  very  pleasant  company,  the  broad  dialect 
sounding  very  familiar  in  our  ears.  Many  an  old  story 
or  legend  was  told  by  him  with  great  gusto,  ami  he  re- 
peated sweet  Scotch  songs  and  for  our  benefit  sung  the 
"  Bonnie  House  o'  Arlie,"  this  being  a  place  we  knew 
well.  Many  a  talk  was  had  about  the  stormy  petrel 
and  mother  Carey's  chickens,  and  the  habits  of  sea 
fowl  generally  This  old  friend  was  capable  of  produ- 
cing merriment  in  any  company  he  happened  to  lie  in. 
We  took  observations  at  noon  and  found  the  distance 
we  had  traveled  for  the  past  day  was  three  hundred 
and  seventeen  miles.  Heavy  swell  in  the  water, 
weather  rather  cool,  very  foggy  with  head  winds  ami 
we  shut  oft  steam  after  dark.  On  June  14th  the  water 
was  smooth  again  with  cool  weather  and  light  winds. 
Great  schools  of  porpoises  are  seen  swimming  along 
with  us  on  the  lee  side  of  the  vessel,  and  whales  cau  be 
descried  blowing  in  the  distance.  We  are  now  in 
what  is  known  to  mariners  as  the  gulf  stream,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  indicating  that  we  are  now  get- 
ting out  of  the  range  of  ice.  Observations  at  noon  are 
taken  with  much  difficulty  on  account  of  the  thick  and 
cloudy  weather,  but  as  near  as  it  is  possible  to  ascertain 
we  are  in  latitude  48°  29'  longitude  45°  54'  the  distance 
traveled  since  last  observation  being  two  hundred  and 
thirty  miles.  A  cool  drizzly  rain  sets  in  with  the  wind 
north  by  east.  June  15th  opens  bright  with  fair  winds. 
Fore  top  sail  set,  also  fore  and  aft  main  trysail  shaken 
out,  water  a  good  deal  rougher  with  heavy  swell.  All 
the  passengers  being  fully  recovered  many  kinds  of 
amusements  are  in  progress  on  deck.  The  day  being 
warm  and  pleasant,  we  took  the  opportunity  of  exami 
ning  the  vessel.  It  is  truly  a  tine  ship  of  large  dimen- 
sions, length  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  width  across 
beam,  forty-eight  feet,  depth  fifty-one  feet,  water  line 
twenty-eight  feet.     She  is   propelled  by  powerful   en- 


To  Europe  and  Back.  15 

gines,  her  furnaces  consuming  one  hundred  and  ten  tons 
of  coal  every  twenty-four  hours.  The  entire  structure 
is  built  of  steel,  with  water-tight  compartments,   her 

tonnage  registering  five  thousand  rive  hundred  and 
fifty  tons.  The  steering  gear  is  also  worked  by  steam 
having  a  small  engine  for  that  purpose.  But  we  must 
hurry  on  and  not  go  into  details.  June  16th  was  bright 
with  occasional  showers,  sea  much  rougher  and  a  very 
heavy  swell  in  the  water  makes  it  very  unpleasant. 
We  take  observations  and  calculate  distance  traveled 
since  last  report  which  foots  up  tbree  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  miles.  Weather  moderate  and  a  little  showery, 
wind  fair  and  very  light  Saturday,  the  17th,  is  cold 
and  very  blustery'  with  showers.  Sea  running  high. 
Sail  seen  last  night  but  too  far  off  for  hailing.  Our 
large  family  are  in  excellent  spirits  and  have  bright 
hopes  of  seeing  land  on  the  morrow.  Wind  fair  and 
cool.  We  signal  a  steamship  after  supper  by  means  of 
lights  She  proves  to  be  one  of  the  Alan  liners  outward 
bound  from  the  Clyde,  for  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Sun- 
day, the  18th,  we  are  Hearing  land.  Still  cool  and 
showery.  A  steamer  visible  ten  miles  to  starboard,  the 
Montreal,  of  the  Dominion  Line,  bound  for  Liverpool. 
We  soon  leave  her  far  astern.  At  2  p.  m.  we  sight 
laud,  cape  Clear,  and  the  dim  and  rugged  outlines  of 
the  mountains  ol  Donegal.  By  and  by  the  coast  of  old 
Ireland  is  distinctly  visible,  and  at  t>  p.  m.  we  are  pass- 
ing Inchtrail  lighthouse  and  can  also  distinguish  the 
celebrated  Giant's  Causeway.  The  coast  here  is  very 
rugged  and  barren,  dangerous  rocks  stretching  far  out 
into  the  sea.  At  8  p.  m.  we  are  in  loch  Foyle  where 
passengers  are  landed  for  Glasgow  and  Derry.  Captain 
T.  was  a  little  afraid  that  the  British  officers  might  nab 
him  for  a  suspect  and  at  first  he  thought  of  remaining 
below,  but  finally  mustered  up  courage  enough  to  stay 
on  deck  and  see  part  of  our  family  disembark,  but  all 
passed  oft'quietly  and  no  questions  asked.  We  left  loch 
Foyle  at  9  p-  m.  channel  a  little  rough.  The  country 
here  has  a  yellowish  hue  in  place  of  the  famous  emer- 
uld  green,  whole  fields  being  covered  with  wild  mus- 
tard. The  first  salute  we  received  from  Hibernia  was 
the  loud  braying  of  a  donkey  grazing  by  the  seashore. 
Monday,  the  29th  and  last  Jay,  we  are  in  the  Irish  sea, 
with  tlie  Isle  of  Man  on  our  larboard,  a  quiet  looking 


1 6  7'o   Europe  and  Back. 

pastoral  spot.  At  11  a.  ra.  we  enter  the  Mersey,  and 
are  soon  in  full  view  of  the  famous  commercial  city  of 
Liverpool.  Our  ship  anchors  in  the  offing  and  a  ten- 
der carries  us  to  the  pier  after  giving  and  receiving 
three  ringing  cheers.  By  noon  we  are  again  on  t&rrcc- 
firmi,  distance  from  loch  Foyle,  one  hundred  and 
ninety  miles,  total  distance  from  Quebec,  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  making  the  passage  in 
nine  days  and  two  hou'\s.  Captain  T.  felt  a  little  un- 
easy about  passing  the  custom  house  officers.  Know- 
ing what  could  be  accomplished  by  a  good  drink  of 
whisky  at  home  in  Kentucky,  he  thought  the  same 
plan  would  work  here,  for  we  overheard  him  telling 
the  British  officer,  that  he  had  a  drop  of  real  good  old 
Kentucky  bourbon  whisky.  How  he  succeeded  we 
cannot  say,  for  we  were  at  that  moment  jostled  out  of 
hearing  distance.  But  we  do  not  think  that  the  exam- 
ination was  very  strict,  even  though  our  friend  with 
his  valise  slung  over  his  shoulder,  did  look,  to  say  the 
least,  very  suspicious. 


LETTER  NO,  4. 


FROM  LIVERPOOL  TO  SCOTLAND, 


The  city  of  Liverpool  is  second  to  no  other  port  in  the 
United  Kingdom  for  its  commerce  and  tonnage  of  ship- 
ping, and  especially  in  its  interests  in  the  United  States, 
the  number  of  steamships  plying  across  the  Atlantic  to 
the  different  American  ports  being  perhaps,  more  than 
three  times  greater  than  any  other  city  in  the  world. 
Its  streets  are  moderately  wide,  the  buildings  massive, 
and,  to  American  eyes,  altogether  too  substantial,  while 
the  parks  and  gardens  in  the  suburbs  are  certainly  very 
pretty.  Taking  it  all  in  all,  one  does  not  observe 
any  material  difference  in  the  general  appearance  of 
the  place  from  one  of  the  large  cities  on  our  own  side 
of  ihe  Atlantic,  but  in  the  country  and  the  people  there 
is  very  much  of  contrast,  and  to  this  we  turn  our  atten- 
tion more  than  in  describing  large  cities  and  their 
buildings.  This  has  been  done  so  often  and  ably  by 
others  that  it  would  only  be  going  over  the  usual  tour- 
ists' route.  Our  purpose  is  to  see  the  people,  what  they 
are  doing,  the  way  they  live,  and  how  they  fare  com- 
pared with  a  collide  of  decades  ago ;  to  do  this  we 
must  ramble  a  good  deal  in  the  rural  districts  and 
mingle  with  the  peasantry.  In  this  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  pleasure  to  be  found. 

It  is  with  the  deepest  regret  that  we  part  with  our 
genial  friend,  Captain  T  we  had  the  pleasure  however 
of  seeing  a  good  many  of  the  sights  in  Liverpool  to- 
gether. (Jood  hotel  accommodations  can  be  found  here 
at  six  shillings,  and  sixpence,  ($1  50)  per  day,  beer  extra. 
Of  course  the  bill  of  fare  is  widely  different  from  ours, 
but  very  good.  Their  method  of  serving  meals  was 
not  altogedjer  new  to  us,  but  on  the  whole  it  did  ap- 
pear very  funny.  Captain  T.  calls  for  butter  cakes. 
The  attendants  become  nonplussed  and  suppose  that 
he  is  speaking  in  some  of  the  dead  languages,  for  they 
had  doubtless  never  heard  of  such  a  dish  before.     In- 


1 8  To   Europe  and  Back. 

(iced  fhoy  seemed  to  have  serious  doubts  of  our  sanity, 
but  when  the  captain  asked  for  roasting  ears  for  dinner, 
they  were  fully  satisfied  that  he  was  <>tt'  his  balance 
mentally.  In  explaining  that  it  was  corn  that  the 
gentleman  wanted,  we  had  the  mortification  ot  finding 
ourselves  set  down  as  a  finished  crank,  Cor  they 
very  promptly  informed  us  that  in  her  majesty's  do- 
minions they  feed  their  horses  on  corn,  (meaning  oats) 
our  corn  not  growing  in  that  country.  We  were  afraid 
to  ask  for  any  other  American  dishes,  partaking  of 
what,  was  set  to  us  and  asking  no  questions.  By  the 
way  this  is  the  wisest  course  to  pursue  when  traveling, 
but  it  is  too  often  lost  sight  of  to  the  great  annoyance 
of  oneself  and  everybody  around  them,  but  alter  all  we 
fare  excellent  in  ''  merrie  old  England."  After  dining, 
most  of  the  artisan  class  indulge  in  a  little  pleasure  in 
the  shape  of  a  pot  or  glass  of  beer,  or  more  frequently 
a  tankard  of  "  'alf  and  'alt,"  finishing  with  a  pipe  of 
fine-cut  tobacco,  long  clay  japes,  being  furnished  with 
the  beer.  The  same  programme  is  often  renewed  after 
the  labors  of  the  day  are  over,  small  apartments  being 
lilted  up  in  the  taverns  where  friends  can  meet  and 
spend  a  social  hour  over  a  glass  of  nappy  ale  and  a 
pipe. 

One  of  the  principal  sights  in  Liverpool  is  its  fine 
docks,  their  great  extent  and  fine  masonry  being  un- 
surpassed by  any  city  in  the  world.  There  is  not  much 
manufacturing  business  carried  on  here,  but  Birken- 
head, her  sister  city  just  across  the  river,  supplies  any 
deficiency  in  this  regard,  for  this  large  city  is  a  perfect 
labyrinth  of  smoke  stacks,  furnaces,  din  and  bustle. 
And  while  this  great  panorama  of  mercantile  industry 
is  before  us,  our  thoughts  turn  towards  our  native  laud 
and  the  eve  often  gazes  lovingly  northward. 

So  on  midsummer  day,  at  10  o'clock,  a.  in.  we  find 
ourselves  at  Lime  street  station,  on  the  London  and 
Northwestern  Railway,  grasping  our  friend  by  the  hand 
and  bidding  him  good  bye  before  stalling  on  the  jour- 
ney northward.  Moving  out  of  the  depot  we  immedi- 
ately enter  quite  a  lengthy  tunnel,  passing  through  it 
we  are  once  more  in  the  country.  Here  we  begin  to 
notice  the  change  of  atmosphere  and  landscape  so  differ- 
ent from  our  American  scenery.  There  is  a  strange 
subdued   softness   of    feeling    in    the   atmosphere   that 


To  Eiirope  and  Back.  19 

seems  odd  to  us.  Although  the  day  is  fine  and  appar- 
ently clear,  yet  we  cannot  rind  the  pure,  bright,  blue  skies 
of  America.  There  is  a  sort  of  limpid  haze  nearly  akin 
to  our  Indian  summer,  and  the  scenery  and  in  fact  all 
of  the  surroundings  seem  to  be  imbued  with  the  same 
softness.  There  is  not  such  diversity  of  objects  nor  docs 
the  general  landscape  stand  out  so  bold  and  prominent 
as  that,  to  he  found  in  our  western  home.  There  is  con- 
siderable difference  in  the  system  of  railroad  accommo- 
dations, the  cars  or  carriages  as  they  call  them,  being 
much  smaller  than  ours  and  divided  into  compart, 
ments  having  an  entrance  to  each  on  the  side,  and  the 
platform  being  on  a  level  with  the  door,  yon  step  right 
in  and  take  your  seat.  A  compartment  will  hold 
about  eight  persons.  This  system  has  its  disadvanta- 
ges and  its  good  points  also,  but  it  altogether  depends 
on  the  company  you  come  in  contact  with.  If  you 
lumpen  to  meet  with  noisy  or  disagreeable  traveling 
companions  then  our  American  system  is  fifty  per  cent, 
better;  but  if  you  have  the  good  fortune  to  get  into 
pleasant  society,  say,  for  instance,  where  there  are  sev- 
eral of  the  fair  sex  ;  we  always  aimed  for  this  if  possi- 
ble, and  found  it  very  pleasant  and  ninety-nine  per 
cent  better  tba  our  lumbering,  big  cars  at  home,  for  we 
were  not  often  troubled  witli  them  smoking,  and  very 
seldom  disturbed  by  tne  production  of  a  whisky  bottle. 
No  tickets  are  sold  or  checked  on  board  but  the  collect- 
ors are  very  expert  at  punching  ihe  tickets,  the  train 
stopping  at  certain  stations  for  that  purpose.  They  are 
very  careful,  always  securing  the  door  on  the  opppsite 
side  of  the  platform,  so  that  passengers  cannot  get  out 
on  the  track.  We  are  now  moving  along  very  rapidly. 
Pass  St.  Helens,  a  beautiful  suburban  village,  near  this 
are  very  extensive  coal  and  lime  works;  passing  many 
neat  way  stations  we  soon  reach  Standish,  a  rather 
quaint  place-  The  surrounding  country  is  very  pretty 
with  fine,  small  farms  and  beautiful  scenery.  Onward 
a  few  miles  further  ami  we  again  notice  that  our  train 
is  nearing  another  large  city.  We  cross  the  river  Rib- 
ble  and  are  at  Preston,  a  large  city  of  some  two  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  evidently  a  very  prosperous 
place.  Along  the  banks  of  the  river  for  many  miles 
nothing  is  to  be  seen  but  elegance,  taste  and  refinement, 
beautiful    villas,   costly  mansions  and  grounds    most 


20  To  Europe  and  Baife. 

tastefully  laid  out  on  the  gently  undulating  banks  of 
the  stream.  A  most  magnificent  depot  is  in  course  of 
construction  here,  which,  when  finished,  will  be  one  of 
the  finest  railroad  stations  in  the  country. 

Leaving  Preston  we  puss  through  the  most  charming 
of  English  scenery.  We  cannot  begin  to  do  it  justice. 
Rich  fields  of  waving  grain  ripening  for  the  harvest,  the 
soft,  sweet  fragrance  of  the  new-mown  hay,  the  hedge- 
rows laden  with  the  sweetness  nf  the  hawthorn  blos- 
som, the  dairies  and  buttercups  raising  their  white  and 
yellows  heads  in  bright  profusion,  scattered  over  the 
green  meadows  and  rich  pasture  fields;  fine  cattle  laz- 
ily cropping  the  luxuriant  green  herbage;  artistically, 
rounded  clusters  of  trees  dotted  over  the  fields  and  past- 
ures ;  large  tracts  of  turnips  just  appearing  in  the  seed 
of  life;  fields  of  potatoes  in  long,  straight  furrows,  pre- 
senting different  shades  of  green  according  to  variety; 
and  scattered  thickly  around  were  beautiful  white  cot- 
tages and  farm  houses,  neat  villas  with  beautiful  sur- 
roundings, and  old  manor  houses  almost  bidden  from 
view  by  sturdy  oak  trees  that  had  withstood  the  storms 
of  many  winters.  Every  few  miles  we  are  passing  a 
busy  city  or  village  Seranton,  a  neat  place  with  beau- 
ful  surroundings ;  Colgate,  a  neat,  old  place  with  line 
pasture  lands  adjoining;  East  Haven  on  the  coast,  with 
a  line  stretch  of  dazz  ing  white  pebbly  beach.  Then 
c  >mes  Cam  tor  th  and  we  are  in  the  vicinity  of  the  celebra- 
ted Westmoreland  lakes.  At  Oxenhol  me  there  are  rail- 
roads that  will  soon  take  you  to  lakes  Windermere  and 
Derwentwater.  Passing  here  the  scenery  becoon  s  very 
rugged.  At  Tobay  tho  country  is  very  sterile  and  hilly, 
for  we  are  among  the  Cumberland  mountains  Here 
we  notice  the  first  sprig  of  heather  at  the  sight  of  which 
our  heart  hounded  with  delight.  This  is  quite  a  sheep 
farming  country,  for  we  notice  many  fleecy  flocks  graz- 
ing on  the  slope  of  the  rugged  mountain  side.  At  Clif- 
ton we  are  still  among  the  mountains,  but  the  country 
is  not  so  unproductive  as  that  we  had  been  passing 
through  for  the  past  eight  or  ten  miles  Several  fine 
farms  are  to  he  seen  in  some  beautiful  nooks  of  the 
mountains.  Here  is  a  junction  foi  Appleby  and  the 
east  coast.  A  few  miles  further  on  is  Peiiridi,  quite  a 
large  neal  looking  place,  in  the  valley  of  Cumberland- 
shire.     You  can  take  a  short  cut  from  here  to  Derwent- 


To  Europe  and  Back.  21 

water.  At  Carlisle  we  are  nearing  the  Border  and  will 
soon  behold  and  set  foot  on  our  native  land.  Carlisle 
is  quite  a  large,  fine  city,  clean  and  very  neat  in  appear- 
ance. Here  the  railroad  company  have  an  excellent 
method  of  furnishing  luncheon  for  passengers.  It  con- 
sists of  small  baskets  of  provisions  put  up  by  the  com- 
pany, iheconteuts  and  price  being  noted  on  the  cover; 
a  piece  of  chicken,  cold  meat,  bread  and  butter,  and  a 
few  cakes.  Of  course  there  are  different  sizes  and  pri- 
ces; one  shilling,  twenty  five  cents;  one  shilling  and 
sixpence,  forty  cents;  these  you  take  into  the  car  with 
you  and  partake  of  at  your  leisure  Notices  are  posted 
up  in  the  cars :  "  Please  leave  the  basket,"  hooks  being 
provided  for  that  purpose.  This  is  the  best  idea  of 
lunch  we  have  ever  seen,  no  hurry  or  bustle,  no  con- 
ductor pulling  the  bell  and  warning  passengers  that 
they  might  get  left  behind,  thus  frightening  them  out 
of  a  good  dinner.  While  enjoying  this  strangely  got 
up  lunch,  our  train  is  fast  approaching  the  famous  and 
historic  Gretn..  Green.  Very  little  is  to  be  seen,  only  a 
few  scattered  houses,  one  with  a  low  thatched  roof  is 
said  to  be  the  identical  building  in  which  Rory  Bain, 
the  blacksmith,  made  many  a  runaway  couple  happy, 
by  pronouncing  them  husband  and  wife.  On  passing 
this  place  we  could  not  help  thinking  of  our  matrimon- 
ial friend,  esquire  Beasley,  of  Aberdeen,  the  Gretna 
Green  of  America.  Had  our  frien  J  captain  T.  been 
with  us  at  this  point  there  is  no  telling  what  thoughts 
might  have  come  into  his  head,  for  to  say  the  l-;ist,  it 
does  make  one  feel  ra  her  badly  to  pass  and  look  upon 
the  very  spot  where  so  many  have  been  united  and 
made  happy,  while  we  are  left  severely  alone  in 
all  the  solitude  and  grandeur  of  single  blessedness. 
But  in  all  seriousness  this  is  a  very  fitting  spot  to  secure 
a  companion,  for  it  is  one  of  the  most  solitary,  woe-be- 
gone,  deserted  looking  spots  we  have  ever  seen.  Iu^ 
deed,  we  even  hinted  to  some  of  our  fair  passengers 
that  it  was  rather  lonesome,  but  an  ominious  shake  of 
the  head  convinced  us  that  they  were  not  altogether 
ready  to  step  out  of  the  cars  and  interview  the  famous 
smith,  we  had  a  good  deal  of  merrimeut,  however,  over 
Gretna  Given  and  its  associations.  We  understand  that 
there  have  been  no  weddings  at  this  place  for  many 
years,  but  many  a  merry  bridal  party  has  assembled 


22  To  Europe  and  Back. 

here  at  this  quaint  old  house,  ou  the  border  between 
England  and  Scotland,  giving  rise  to  many  a  legend 
and  romance.  Leaving  Gretna  Green  the  scenery  be- 
comes decidedly  Scottish,  for  we  are  now  passing 
through  that  part  of  the  country  whicli  James  Hogg,  the 
"Ettrick  Shepherd,"  has  so  beautifully  described  in 
his  songs  and  poems,  making  us  familiar  with  every 
bit  of  scenery  we  are  passing  through.  Q,uite  a  pastor- 
ial  spot  is  this  among  the  Cheviot  hills.  Now  our  train 
is  uearing  the  country  of  Burns,  for  we  are  already  in 
sight  of  the  winding  Nith,  while  stretching  away  to  the 
left  is  Aunaudale.  Our  conductor  calls  out  L  icberbie, 
and  we  will  soon  be  in  the  valley  of  Ayr. 


LETTER  NO,  5, 


FROM  CHEVOIT  TO  GRAMPIAN  HILLS. 


The  country  through  which  we  are  passing  is  full  of 
historical  interest.  Abbottsford,  the  home  of  Walter 
Scott,  is  only  a  short  distance  to  the  right  of  us,  with 
its  grand  old  trees,  its  beautiful  parks  and  thickly 
wooded  landscape,  while  not  a  great  distance  from  it  is 
K*«*Hifeoi,fch,  the  damp  walls  of  the  old  castle  entirely 
covered  with  a  species  of  ivy  which  bears  the  name  of 
IAnaria  Cebo.  Many  parts  of  the  ancient  edifice  are 
crumbling  to  decay,  the  ruins  everywhere  hidden  with 
a  covering  of  lichens,  ferns,  and  many  varieties  of  wild 
sedum.  Amid  these  scenes  we  can  almost  in  imagina- 
tion behold  the  form  of  the  grand  old  man  "  Sir  Walter" 
dictating  his  "Old  Mortality,"  or  laughing  heartily  at 
the  antics  and  quaint  humor  with  which  he  has  im- 
bued "dominie  Sampson,"  his  two  favorite  hounds 
crouching  at  his  side,  often  raising  their  heads  in  ex- 
pectance of  the  caressing  word  which  was  sure  to  come 
from  their  kind  hearted  master.  But  while  we  are 
thinking  of  these  historic  associations,  Abbotsford  is  left 
in  the  distance.  We  pass  Lochmaben  and  Beatiockon 
our  right,  while  on  the  left  is  the  home  of  Burns. 

The  small  farm  of  Mossgiel  is  in  much  the  same  con- 
dition as  it  was  in  years  gone  by.  After  all  it  is  iittle 
wonder  that  the  mind  of  the  plain  Scotch  ploughman 
should  be  imbued  with  these  feelings  and  the  mantle  of 
poetic  inspiration  thrown  around  him,  living  amidst 
such  sweet  scenery  in  nature's  simplest  grandeur.  The 
rippling  Ayr,  its  clear  waters  leaping  aud  sparkling  as 
it  courses  along  past  the  castle  of  Montgomery,  onward 
through  shady  dells,  among  green  fields  where  daises 
bloom,  and  lofty  trees  its  banks  overhang,  toward  the 
sea,  where  stands  tbe  bonnie  town  of  Ayr.  The  Boon 
is  meandering  in  another  direction,  the  fields  along  its 
bonnie  banks  so  fresh  and  fair,  while  way  beyond  a  ris- 
ing knoll  the  Lugar  flows.     Further  on  is  the  Alton, 


24  To  Europe  and  Back. 

(1  >wiug  just  ts  gently  as  when  the  p>at  sing  so  kindly, 
murmuring  sjft  and  sweetly,  nature  bushed  ,  no  dreams 
disturbing.     Old  Alloway's  haunted   kirk  is  away   in 
the   distance,    but    we   can   see    the    picture    of  Tarn. 
O'Shanter  most  vividly  in  the  surrounding  landscape, 
and  as  night  falls  we  can  behold  a  gooil  representation 
of  the  cottars  S  iturd  \y  night.       We  look  in  vain  for  Dr. 
Hornbook;  indeed  we  have  serious  apprehensions  that  he 
has  emigrated  to  America  where  there  is  a  wider  field 
for  his  peculiar  genius  and  more  profit  to  be  derived 
from  his  artistic  method  of  stopping  the  breath.     Ah  ! 
here  is  '•  Holy  Willie,"  just  the  same  as  what  he  was 
a  century  ago,  his  prayers  just  as  long  and  equally  as 
fervent  as  ever      We  are  of  the  opinion,  though,  that  a 
good  many  of  his  relatives  have  left  the  land  of  their 
birth  and  gone  west  to  grow  up  with  the  country,  for  we 
have  distinct  recollections  of  meeting  several  of  them  in 
America      Thus  every  cosy  nook  we  are  passing  is  sus- 
ceptible of  being  transformed  into  a  poeticiji  gem. 

In  leaving  these  sceues  behind  we  can  observe  John 
Anderson,  "  My  Jo,"  waving  us  good-bye,  his  snow- 
white  locks  fluttering  in  the  breeze.  The  merry  voices 
of  Rob  and  Alan,  enjoying  a  drop  of  Will'.e's  brewing, 
reach  us  as  a  sort  of  parting  gift,  a  long  lingering  look 
and  we  leave  the  home  of  Burns  behind  and  speed  on 
through  a  very  pleasant  country,  though  less  historic, 
and  we  are  soon  cheered  by  the  guard  or  conductor  call- 
ing out  Carstairs,  change  carriages  for  Edinburg.  Tin- 
name  sounded  very  pleasant  to  us,  but  we  (lid  not 
intend  to  visit  the  capital  at  this  time  butkept  on  north- 
ward. Again  the  country  becomes  more  sterile,  being 
quite  a  mineral  district,  tall  chimneys,  blazing  furnaces, 
smoke,  din  and  bustle  being  the  predominant  features. 
Iron  ore  is  plentiful  and  m  inufactured  in  large  quanti- 
ties, a  r-ady  m  uket  being  found  in  the  great^hip  build- 
ing yards  on  the  Clyde,  only  a  few  miles  distant.  Coal 
is  also  found, but  not  in  quantity,  for  the  beds  are  not 
very  extensive  Passing  through  this  busy  mineral 
mart  for  about  twelve  miles  and  we  shut  off  steam  at 
Coat  bridge.  Here  are  to  be  seen  the  largest  machine 
and  locomotive  works  in  the  country;  indeed  you  can 
scarcely  discern  the  houses  through  the  thick  canopy 
of  smoke  iianging  over  the  place.  The  ring  of  the  liam- 
ner  and  anvil  are  about  the  only  sounds  beard,  save  the 


To  Europe  and  Bock.  25 

noise  of  the  furnaces  and  escaping  steam.  Although 
not  very  melodious,  this  is  music  however,  that  has  a 
good  deal  of  influence  in  controlling  the  fortunes  and 
destinies  of  men  and  nations.  Our  next  stopping 
place  is  the  great  Green  hi  II  Junction,  where  there  iscon- 
Biderable  excitement,  for  here  you  change  for  the  way 
of  Glasgow  and  the  west  coast. 

Ail  along  the  route  we  have  heen  paying  considerable 
attention  to  the  traveling  fiend  that  makes  it  his  spec 
ial  business  to  be  all  buttoolate.  The  average  late  comer 
is  usually  an  elderly  or  middle  aged  individual,  wearing 
a  silk  hat  that  has  seen  a  good  deal  of  hard  service,  his 
garments  loose  and  badly  fitted,  his  eoat  a  faded  pea- 
green,  or  shabby  black  color,  his  baggage  generally  con- 
sisting of  a  large  valise,  two  bundles  care'ully  wrapped 
with  twine,  and  an  umbrella.  Sometimes  he  has  a  lam- 
die  of  rugs  and  two  or  three  heavy  walking  canes  in 
addition  to  the  above.  He  has  very  important  Uisiness 
with  some  person  on  the  far  end  of  the  platform,  and  has 
not  the  least  idea  where  he  is  going  until  the  signal  for 
starting.  Then,  of  course,  he  makes  for  a,  carriage  near 
the  middle  of  tin-  train,  lugging  his  baggage  along  with 
him,  his  umbrella  horizontally  under  his  arm,  giving 
those  on  the  platform  many  a  thrust  as  he  hurries  fran- 
tic illy  to  secure  a  seat  ;  his  hat,  usually  worn  well  back 
on  bis  cranium,  flies  oft  a  I  together,  the  long  coat  tails  are 
caught  in  the  breeze,  and  the  loose,  ill-fitting  garment 
comes  pretty  near  being  turned  wrong sideout,  Ins  wide, 
curious  shaped  trousers  are  flapping  about  his  limbs,  his 
cheeks  are  putfed  out  with  the  extraordinary  exertion, 
and  he  often  turns  red  in  the  face,  awaking  serious  ap- 
prehensions of  apoplexy.  Finally  as  the  wheels  are  he- 
ginning  to  turn.he  is  pushed  into  a  com  part  men  t,  bundles 
and  all  Some  kind-hearted  person  has  picked  up  his 
hat  and  handed  it  to  him  while  he  is  getting  seated,  but 
instead  of  being  grateful  he  is  very  cross  and  abusive,  and 
at  the  next  station,  alter  dragging  his  baggage  across 
the  bridge  to  another  platform,  finds  that  be  has  been 
carried  a  considerable  distance  out  of  his  intended  route, 
and  then  as  a  matter  of  course  he  never  blames  himself 
but  heaps  abuse  upon  the  railroad  officials,  who  are  en- 
tirely innocent  in  the  matter  We  metu  very  fine  spec 
inieti  of  this  homo  genus  at  Greeuhill. 


26  V\i  Europe  and  Back 

Still  laughing  at  the  amusement  afforded  we  are  pass- 
ing Uampsie,  and  can  distinguish  in  the  distance  the 
mist  covered  summit  of  lofty  Ben  Lomond.  The  coun- 
try is  becomiug  more  open  and  less  thickly  wooded; 
cross  a  small  stream  called  the  Bannock,  and  we  are 
on  the  historic  field  of'Banuockhum,  the  Wallace  mon- 
ument, with  a  colossal  statute  of  the  great  Scottish  hero, 
towering  on  the  beightsa  little  to  the  northwest, assum- 
ing an  attitude  as  if  .-canning  the  battle-field;  cross 
the  river  Forth,  and  the  ancient  city  of  Stirling  is  on  our 
left  with  the  grand  old  castle  on  the  bluff  eminence  on 

the  south  bank  of  the  river.     We  look  ii| the  place 

with  a  feeling  of  awe,  knowing  how  much  human 
blood  had  been  shed,  and  the  sanguinary  and  deter- 
mined test  of  arms  displayed  by  those  warrior  heroes 
who  now  .sleep  within  its  walled  enclosures.  This  city 
of  Stirling  has  grown  a  good  deal  during  the  past  ten 
years,  it  now  being  a  rather  important  railroad  center 
and  considerable  commercial  interests.  Leaving  this 
we  are  hurled  through  a  very  pretty  section  of  the 
country,  Bridge  ol  Alan,  a  beautiful  watering  place 
on  the  banks  of  the  Earn,  with  the  charmingly  wooded 
hills  of  Kinross  and  Fife  in  the  northern  back-ground. 
A  few  mi  es  up  the  same  stream  is  Dunblane,  also  a 
favorite  summer  resort  and  one  of  the  prettiest  places 
we  have  yet  seen.  The  scenery  and  water  is  all  that 
could  he  desired,  hut  though  \wy  pleasant  to  live  hen-, 
it  is  ratln-r  costly,  the  fire  tor  the  summer  months  be- 
ing about  SMI  or  $12  per  week,  not  including  attendants 
fees.  The  Earn  affords  find  trout  fishing.  A  little  be- 
yond this  is -the  junction  fop  Calauder  and  the  famous 
Trosachs,  the  celebrated  tourists'  route.  After  this 
comes  Crief,  situated  in  a  beautifully  wooded  valley 
with  the  Earn  softly  meandering  through  it.  The 
town  is  some  distance  to  the  west  of  us,  a  rather  rural 
place.  We  are  now  within  sight  of  the  chain  of  Ochil 
mountains  stretching  from  this  point  almost  to  the 
west  coast.  In  a  si  o  t  time  we  are  at  the  fair  city  of 
Perth,  quite  a  large  growing  place  with  glimpses  of 
beautiful  scenery  in  the  neighborhood;  hence  the  name 
Fair  City.  Our  train  came  to  a  halt  some  distance  from 
the  town.  Inquiring  the  cause  the  guard  promptly  in- 
formed us  that  we  were  waiting  so  as  to  ailow  the 
Queen  to  pass.     This  was  something  novel,  so  we  asked 


To  Europe  and  Back.  27 

him  if  he  had  any  objections  to  our  leaving  the  oars  and 
walking  to  the  platform  tosee  her.  "Certainly,"  he  re- 
plied, "  get  out  by  al  means  and  have  a  look  at  her." 
Of  course  we  availed  ourself  of  the  opportunity.  There 
was  quite  a  crowd  gathered  near  the  refreshment  rooms. 
Her  majesty  had  stopped  to  luncheon  on  her  way  south- 
ward from  her  Scotch  home,  Balmoral.  The  stalwart 
form  of  John  Brown  Was  guarding  the  entrance.  We 
soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  her  as  she  walked 
from  the  restaurant  to  a  carriage.  A  bright  young 
lassie  presented  her  with  a  handsome  bouquet  of  flow- 
ers The  1  rusty  Highlander  took  the  proffered  offering 
and  handed  it" to  her  majesty,  who  acknowledged  her 
thanks  and  kindly  shook  the  hand  of  the  youthful  donor. 
Her  majesty  in  appearance  is  one  of  those  thoughtful, 
kind  hearted  ladies'  that  the  eye  and  mind  love  to  rest 
upon,  a  countenance  beaming  with  charity  and  benev- 
olence. We  were  not  slow  to  uncover  our  head  in  her 
presence,  not  because  we  were  beholding  the  queen  of 
Great  Britain  ;  uot  because  we  were  in  the  presence  of 
the  empress  of  India,  but  because  we  beheld  in  her  the 
woman  whom  people  of  all  nations  love  and  revere; 
because,  true  to  her  womanly  nature,  she  laid  aside  her 
royal  garments  and  dignity  of  state  and  received  with 
open  arms  the  daughter  of  our  president ;  because  she 
shed  tears  of  sympathy  with  us  in  our  great  national 
affliction  of  July  a  year  ago,  and  because  she  was  the 
woman  that  sent  flashing  across  the  Atlantic  kind  and 
affectionate  words  of  condolence  to  the  bereaved  family 
ot  our  lamented  Garfield.  In  a  word  her  appearance 
embodies  all  that  is  noble  and  go<  d. 

Leaving  Perth  we  cross  the  Tay  and  arrive  at  Stan- 
ley, the  junction  of  the  Highland  railway.  On  the 
right  and'  some  distance  southward  is  Scone,  where  the 
kings  of  Scotland  were  crowned,  while  stretching  away 
further  south  is  the  famous  "Carse  o'  Gowrie,"  along 
the  valley  of  the  Tay  towards  Dundee.  Here  a  fine,  in 
fact  the  finest  farming  country  in  the  kingdom,  opens 
before  us,  for  we  now  are  in  the  valley  of  Strathmore. 
Agriculture  receives  much  more  attention  here  than  in 
any  other  part  of  Scotland.  The  farm  buildings  are  very 
fine,  and  every  inch  of  ground  under  cultivation  ex- 
cepting that  in  use  for  keeping  up  tbe  supply  of  timber, 
ami  that  is  something  they  are  very  careful  to  do,  al- 


28  To  Europe  and  Back. 

ways  planting  a  tree  to  take  the  place  of  the  one  cut 
down.  A  very  fine  breed  of  cattle  is  seen  here,  being 
almost  indigenious  to  this  section.  The  famed  Grampian 
hills  are  now  plainly  visible  in  the  distance,  the  long 
chain  reaching  from  the  Ochils  in  Perth  to  the  coast 
of  Aberdeen.  We  are  now  nearing  the  place  of  our 
birth,  and,  consequently,  everything  is  becoming  more 
and  more  familiar,  and  if  we  are  writing  this  in  lan- 
guage that  is  very  simple,  not  having  polish  or  elegance 
of  style,  we  hope  there  may  be  pardon  in  store  for  us  in 
the  near  future,  for  we  are  almost  among  the  scenes  of 
our  boyhood.  The  conductor  calls  out,  "Dun  Junction, 
change  carriages  for  Brechin."  Tins  is  our  native  city 
and  only  four  miles  distance.  Finally  we  arrive  at 
Bivchin  and  have  the  pleasure  of  meeting  many  old 
friends  and  relatives,  also  have  the  sad  duty  oflooking  on 
the  quiet  spot  in  the  old  church-yard,  where  loved  ones 
are  sleeping.  But  we  draw  a  veil  over  the  scene  and  rest 
for  awhile,  after  which  we  may  see  a  little  of  Scottish 
life  and  character. 


LETTER  NO,  6, 


NATIVE  SCENES  AND  SKETCHES. 


On  the  morning  of  June  30th  we  are  early  astir,  hav- 
ing rested  a  few  days  at  the  old  homestead,  and  are, 
therefore,  in  just  the  proper  frame  of  mind  to  celebrate 
this  memorable  day  in  a  becoming  manner,  for  we 
had  not  forgotten  that  it  was  the  time  appointed  for  the 
miserable,  whining  scoundrel,  Guiteau,  to  expiate  his 
fearful  crime  on  the  scaffold.  Of  course  we  make  al- 
lowance for  the  difference  of  time  and  patiently  watch 
the  hands  of  the  clock  until  they  are  pointing  to  6  p. 
in.,  when  we  knew  then  that  it  was  all  over  with  the 
cowardly  wretch.  Indeed,  it  was  impossible  to  restrain 
our  feelings  any  longer;  oft  went  our  good,  new  hat, 
then  a  hearty,  ringing  cheer,  "Hip,  hip,  hurrah,  well 
done !"  much  to  the  astonishment  of  those  around  us,  but 
after  ascertaining  the  cause  they  joined  us  most  heart- 
ily in  repeating  it :  "Served  the  sneaking  villain  right." 
"  Long  may  the  stars  and  stripes  wave  over  our  lovely 
sister  country  "  You  may  rest  assured  that  we  gave  a 
heartfelt  amen  to  this  genuine  outburst  of  feeling 
on  the  part  of  strangers.  Had  we  been  possessed  of  vo- 
cal powers  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  would  have  been 
done  up  in  good  style,  but 'unfortunately  this  was  out  of 
the  question,  for  there  were  many  people  and  vehicles 
on  the  streets  and  we  might  have  been  liable  to  get  into 
trouble  from  frightening  the  horses  and  perhaps  alarm- 
ing the  quiet  citizens  by  an  exhibition  of  our  musical 
talent.  Next  morning  we  had  the  pleasure  and  satisfact- 
ion of  reading  the  dispatches  in  the  morning  papeis  an- 
nouncing that  the  job  was  neatly  done  and  the  unfor- 
tunate creature  gone  to  meet  a  just  reward.  As  "  Holy 
Willie  "  would  say,  perhaps  he  has  taken  the  left  hand 
road. 

Being  in  such  a  happy  mood  after  perusing  these  dis- 
patches, two  lady  friends  had  the  audacity  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  overflow  of  spirits  by  suggesting  that  we 


30  To  Europe  and  Back 

ought  to  see  the  Highland  games,  then  in  progress  in 
the  city  park,  only  a  short  distance  out  of  town.  Of 
course,  under  the  circumstances  we  could  not  reasona- 
bly decline,  the  price  of  admission  to  the  grounds  in- 
chiding  a  good  seat  was  very  reasonable,  only  a  six- 
pence, (twelve-and-a  half  cents.)  Here  is  a  good  op- 
portunity for  getting  a  glimpse  of  Scottish  manners  and 
customs;  about  a  dozen  pipers  are  already  in  the  ring 
dressed  in  full  Highland  costume,  proudly  marching  to 
the  music  of  the  pibrocbsthey  were  discoursing.  Many 
of  them  had  numerous  medals  on  their  breasts,  trophies 
of  past  victories  in  the  piping  art,  truly  fine-looking 
men  and  beautifully  dressed,  having  neat  hose  and  sil- 
ver buckle  shoes,  with  the  historic  tartan  plaid  hung 
gracefully  over  the  shoulder,  while  a  neat  Glengarry 
bonnet  made  a  very  appropriate  head  wear.  But  the 
music,  oh  !  horror  of  horrors,  such  screeching  and  blow- 
ing, most  shrill  and  piercing;  indeed,  we  wished  them 
at  least  a  mile  distant,  the  noise  would  have  been  more 
soft  and  subdued  and  more  near  bearab  e.  However,  it 
proved  not  to  be  so  bad  after  all,  for  by  and  by  the  ear 
becomes  used  to  the  harsh  melody,  and  by  the  time  the 
prize  competition  is  over  the  sound  has  become  rather 
pleasant  than  otherwise  Then  comes  the  dancing  tour- 
nament, which  was  good  and  very  enjoyable,  but  to 
American  eyes  would  have  appeared  very  funny.  There 
is  quite  a  variety  of  dances,  comprising  reels,  Highland 
fling,  kilie  kalum,  hornpipes,  jigs  and  strathspeys. 
Each  competitor  appearing  singly  on  the  platform,  gave 
us  an  excellent  opportunity  of  observing  their  agility. 
The  athletic  sports  were  very  interesting,  showing  to 
fine  advantage  the  splendid  physical  development  of 
theScotch  bigblander;  the  leaping  and  running  matches 
were  well  contested  and  created  not  a  little  amusement. 
The  last  but  not  the  least  is  an  exhibition  of  genuine 
Scotch  wrestling,  which  w-S  rather  novel  and  very  ex- 
citing. 

As  the  sports  draw  to  a  close  we  can  notice  the  same 
old  manners  and  customs  that  existed  many  years  ago, 
and  begin  to  realize  that  we  are  in  a  country  and  among 
a  people  that  change  but  very  little  in  a  decade,  so  un- 
like our  American  changeable  and  progressive  style. 
Each  country  gallant  selects  his  lassie  and  homeward 
together  take  their   way  on  foot,  often  walking  a  dis- 


To  Europe  and  Back,  3 1 

tance  of  many  miles.  But  this  is  not  such  an  un- 
pleasant business  after  all,  for  the  summer  evening  is 
soft  and  beautiful,  the  sun  yet  high  in  the  heavens  al- 
though it  is  nigh  8  p.  in.  Here  we  might  say  that  there 
is  considerable  difference  in  the  length  of  daylight  here 
compared  with  that  of  Kentucky,  the  twilight  not 
deepening  into  darkness  until  nearly  11,  and  by  1  a.  m. 
day  is  breaking  in  the  eastern  horizon  during  the  sum- 
mer mouths,  while  the  day  is  correspondingly  short  in 
the  winter.  Thus  the  many  couples  wending  their  way 
homeward  can  either  take  it  leisurely  or  at  a  brisk  pace, 
for  the  evening  is  just  pleasantly  warm  for  either,  but, 
of  course,  we  suppose  much  depends  upon  the  import- 
ance of  the  conversation.  Like  others,  we  walked  some 
distance  in  the  country,  and  the  journey  was  so  pleas- 
ant that  it  seemed  almost  incredible  when  our  compan- 
ions informed  us  that  we  had  traveled  several  miles; 
whether  it  was  the  familiar  windings  and  turnings  of 
the  road,  or  the  circling  by  paths  in  which  we  had  so 
often  wandered  in  our  boyhood  that  beguiled  us,  or  the 
animated  conversation  and  pleasant  company  that  made 
the  way  seem  so  short,  has  never  been  settled  in  our 
mind.  We  are  in  the  country  districts  now,  however, 
and  propose  to  do  just  what  the  people  around  us  are 
doing,  sharing  the  same  fare  and  adopting  their  mode 
of  living.  True,  v»e  may  lack  many  of  the  luxuries  of 
a  Kentucky  home,  still  there  is  no  danger  of  starving, 
as  some  tourists  have  the  foolishness  to  assert.  Good 
substantial  food  is  plentiful,  though  not  in  great  variety; 
the  people  are  strong,  healthy  and  robust  on  the  homely 
fare  on  which  they  live,  so  we  at  once  conclude  to  par- 
take of  the  national  fare  fully  assured  that  it  would  not 
kill  us  outright,  and  if  it  did  lay  us  up  for  a  a  time  tbere 
would  be  but  little  harm,  seeing  that  we  were  provided 
with  one  of  'squire  Marsh's  accident  policy  tickets. 
Provisions  on  the  whole  are  rather  high.  Good  beef 
will  cost  twenty  five  cents  per  pound,  butter,  thirty-five 
cents,  eggs,  thirty  cents,  ham  and  bacon,  twenty-five 
cents;  bread  stuffs  are  cheaper,  four  pound  loaf,  twelve 
ceuts;  teas  and  sugars  are  very  cheap,  sixty  and  seven 
cents  per  peuud.  Very  little  meats  are  used  in  the 
country  districts,  but  the  people  are  happy  and  con- 
tented. The  average  wages  of  workingmen  are  about 
$5  per  week,  while  mechanics  realize  $8;  on  the  whole 


32  To  Europe  and  Back. 

an  industrious  person  could  save  ns  much  on  these  fig- 
ures as  could  be  done  in  America  at  our  regular  rate  of 
wages.  The  time  for  working  is  well  regulated;  for  all 
classes  of  manual  labor  ten  hours  per  day  is  all  thai  is 
required,  farm  servants  being  included  in  this. 

We  are  now  starting  for  the  east  coast.  Aberdeen  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Dee,  is  the  principal  city  in  the 
northeast  of  Scotland,  and  really  a  fine  city,  built  en- 
tirely of  brown  granite  On  Union  street,  the  principal 
business  place,  the  front  part  of  the  buildings  are  so 
highly  polished,  that  the  long  straight  block  is  glisten- 
ing in  the  sunlight  like  burnished  silver.  This  js  the 
third  seat  of  learning  in  the  country,  Marechal  and 
King's  College  being  the  most  conspicuous  institutions. 
Here  Lord  Byron  received  his  education;  tins  is  also 
quite  a  military  station,  with  line  barracks;  we  notice 
very  fine  market  buildings;  there  are  two  or  three  daily 
papers  published,  and  a  population  of  nearly  one  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  country  westward  is  certainly 
very  pretty;  there  is  a  good  railroad  in  this  direction  as 
far  ns  Ballater;  the  scenery  up  the  valley  of  the  Dee  is 
perfectly  charming,  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  Queen 
Victoria  loves  to  spend  her  summers  there,  everything 
so  beautiful,  soft  and  tranquil.  From  Ballater  you  take 
the  stage  coach  to  Balmoral,  her  majesty's  summer  res- 
idence, beautifully  situated  a  little  distance  from  the 
river  near  the  village  of  ('ratine.  We  cannot  begin  to 
give  a  minute  description  of  the  palace  and  its  sur- 
roundings, but  will  only  say  that  everything  connected 
with  the  place  is  in  exquisite  taste ;  beautified  with  all 
the  polish  and  refinement  of  art,  but  still  retaining  that 
softness  ami  sweet  touches  so  true  to  nature.  Some 
distance  southward  is  the  great  deer  forest  of  the  Aber- 
geldie  belonging  to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  while  away  be 

yond  this  we  behold  the  wild,  frowning  glories  of  "  bark 
Lochnagar,"  so  grandly  described  by  the  poet  Byron. 
Proceeding  still  further  westward  by  stage  you  soon 
touch  at  Braemar,  very  mountainous  country,  thence 
on  to  Kingussie,  where  you  make  connections  with  the 
Highland  railway,  then  you  can  go  south  by  the  way 
of  Blair  Athole  and  through  the  "Dirks  of  Aberfeldy," 
until  you  join  the  Caledonian  railway  at  Stanley.  The 
scenery  on  this  route  is  very  pretty;  indeed  in  many 
places  it  is  really  sublime  and  picturesque.     You   can 


To  Europe  and  Back.  33 

also  go  northward  from  Kingussie  towards  Inverness, 
the  principal  city  in  the  highlands;  from  thence  you 
can  proceed  towards  the  southwest  coast  hy  the  way  of 
the  Caledonia  canal.  Railroad  traveling  is  not  very  ex- 
pensive here,  so  we  can  afford  to  take  a  good  many 
different  routes.  The  regular  Jare  is  two  cents  per  mile, 
return  for  a  fare-and-a  half,  three  cents,  and  if  you  pur- 
chase one  of  Cook's  tourist's  tickets  you  can  travel  still 
cheaper.  These  can  he  obtained  at  nearly  every  rail- 
road station  in  the  country.  A  short  distance  north 
from  Inverness  and  you  can  cross  the  Moray  Frith  to  the 
Orkney  and  Shetland  islands;  skirting  the  coast  in  a 
south-easterly  direction  through  a  very  rugged  country, 
you  find  yourself  at  Peterhead,  celebrated  for  its  granite 
quarries.  Twenty  miles  further  on  and  we  are  again  at 
Aberdeen,  and  it  you  want  to  go  to  London  by  water 
there  are  fine  steamers  leaving  twice  a  week,  distance 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  fare  $7,  time  forty-eight 
hours.  The  passage  in  the  North  Sea  is  often  very 
rough  and  hazardous. 

Still  hugging  the  coast  we  soon  reach  a  quaint  old 
town  called  Stonehaven,  properly  speaking  only  a  fish- 
ing village.  We  stop  for  several  days  here  and  explore 
the  country  a  little  and  have  some  very  pleasant  ram- 
bles among  the  beautiful  trees  and  parks  that  surround 
the  castle  of  Uric  We  visit  the  old  family  vault  where 
the  remains  of  captain  Barclay,  of  pedestrian  fame,  lie 
mouldering  into  dust ;  this  was  the  first  man  we  believe 
that  accomplished  the  great  feat  of  walking  a  thousand 
miles  in  as  many  hours.  Leaving  this  the  country  is 
very  hilly,  for  we  are  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Grampian  range;  the  heather  is  not  blooming  yet,  so 
we  conclude  to  visit  ihem  later,  and  in  the  meantime 
pass  towards  Montrose,  a  very  neat,  clean  city  of  some 
twelve  thousand  inhabitants.  The  scenes  here  are  very 
familiar  to  us,  for  we  have  often  leaped  among  the  rocks 
in  days  gone  by  and  gathered  dulse  and  shell  fish  when 
the  tide  receded.  The  scenery  landward  is  soft  and 
sweet.  The  North  British  Railroad  Company  has  just 
completed  a  very  substantial  bridge  over  the  Esk,  thus 
giving  a  near  route  to  Arbroath,  a  small  town  about  ten 
miles  distant.  Here  we  notice  very  extensive  tanner- 
ies, also  large  preserve  works.  Still  rounding  the  coast 
a  few  miles  and  we  come  to  Boughtferry  and  Dundee 


34  To  Europe  and  Back 

on  the  Frith  of  Tay,  the  seeue  of  the  great  railroad 
bridge  disaster.  The  structure  is  still  standing  in  much 
tbe  same  condition  as  it  was  the  day  after  the  accident 
occurred,  although  they  pretend  to  be  working  on  it. 
It  is  really  a  wonderful  structure,  with  the  two  end 
sections  towering  above  the  angry  waters,  and  the  fear- 
ful gap  in  tbe  center  nearly  a  mile  long,  where  the  ill- 
fated  train  fell.  People  say  that  the  wind  was  blowing 
a  complete  hurricane  from  the  southwest  at  the  time, 
and  they  fully  believe  that  it  was  the  violence  of  the 
storm  and  not  the  train  that  destroyed  the  structure. 
This  is  quite  a  large  place  with  a  population  of  two 
hundred  and  ft  ty  thousand,  tbe  second  commercial  city 
in  .Scotland,  with  a  regular  line  of  steamers  crossing  the 
Atlantic  to  New  York.  But  we  must  hurry  for  we 
want  to  get  to  Eliuburg,  cross  over  the  ferry,  through 
Fife,  pass  St.  Andrews,  a  fine  old  place,  with  its  grand 
educational  institutions,  being  tbe  second  in  the  country 
in  this  regard,  touch  at  Burntisland,  cross  the  Frith  of 
Forth  and  we  are  within  a  mile  of  Edinboro,  town. 


LETTER  NO,  7, 


IN  EDINBURG. 


What  a  chaos  of  grand  associations  are  crowding  on 
our  mind  as  we  approach  this  wonderful,  classic  old 
city  of  Edinburg.  the  modern  Athens  of  the  world.  It 
is  situated  on  a  beautiful  rising  ground  in  full  view  of 
the  Frith  of  the  Forth.  Being  some  distance  from  the 
coast,  Leith  forms  its  seaport,  and  opens  the  way  com- 
mercially by  water.  Granton,  New  Haven  and  Grange- 
mouth, are'but  a  continuation  of  Leith,  stretching  away 
further  up  the  estuary.  Tram  cars  and  omnibus  lines 
are  plentiful  from  these  points;  also  the  North  British 
railway,  which  lands  you  at  the  great  Waverly  Station, 
located  in  a  lovely  valley  which  separates  the  old  town 
from  the  new.  We  had  been  looking  forward  with 
bright  expectance  to  the  sights  and  memories  connected 
wiili  this  grand,  historic  capital,  but  as  the  glories  of 
Princesses  street  and  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  sur- 
rounding gardens  open  before  us,  our  loltiest  anticipa- 
tions were  fully  realized. 

Emerging  from  a  abort  tunnel  after  leaving  the  Hay- 
market  Station,  the  grand  old  castle  is  looming  up 
many  feet  above  us  on  a  perpendicular  foundation  of 
solid  rock,  with  the  ancient  edifice  beetling  over  its 
base  as  if  it  might  at  any  moment  be  hurled  into  the 
valley  below.  But  this  is  only  a  delusion,  for  there  it 
has  rested  securely  for  centuries  and  withstood  the 
storms  of  many  winters,  and  weathered  the  violence  of 
many  fierce  military  engagements,  and  there  is  but 
little  doubt  that  the  grand  old  structure  will  remain 
there  for  many  centuries  to  come.  On  the  left  the  eye 
rests  upon  a  scene  of  unsurpassed  beauty,  the  tine  gar- 
dens most  tastefully  laid  out,  presenting  a  very  pleasing 
diversity  of  flowers  and  foliage.  Among  the  plants  and 
shrubbery  we  notice  many  kinds  that  would  very  soon 
succumb  to  the  scorching  rays  of  a  Kentucky  sun. 
Dwarf  lobelias  of  the  deepest  blue,  in  ribbon  lines  miles 


36  To  Enropt  and  Back 

in  length;  dwarf  calceolarias  In  bright  yellow  colors 
form  the  next  row,  then  the  caller  growing  argeratums 
or  a  line  of  beautiful  blue  pansies,  and  so  on  until  the 
eye  becomes  perfectly  charmed  with  the  finely  con- 
trasted grouping  and  sweet  blending  of  colors;  indeed 
we  loved  to  linger  there,  for  such  a  lovely  spot  and 
charmingly  animated  surroundings  are  not  to  be  found 
every  day,  for  while  everything  is  soft  and  pleasing  in 
the  gardens,  the  atmosphere  is  ladened  witli  a  soft, 
mellow  fragrance,  emanating  from  the  extensive  buds 
of  mignonette  dotted  over  the  grounds  in  profusion; 
tlieu  up  several  long  flights  of  stone  steps  and  we  are  ou 
Princesses  street,  where  all  is  commotion  and  hurry. 
This  is  by  far  the  finest  street  in  the  city,  and  all  is 
bustle  and  activity.  Cabs,  hansoms,  omnibuses,  tram 
cars  and  private  conveyances  are  moving  promiscously 
in  every  direction.  There  is  considerable  difference  be- 
tween those  tram  cars  and  our  street  cars  at  home. 
Here  they  are  two-story  affairs,  having  a  winding  stair- 
way in  the  rear  by  which  you  can  make  your  way  to  a 
seat  on  the  top.  This  seemed  very  funny,  and,  in  fact, 
we  had  almost  made  up  our  mind  in  advance  to  dislike 
the  whole  system,  but  after  having  two  or  three  drives 
on  top  our  rashly  formed  opinions  underwent  consider- 
able change,  for  we  obtained  a  magnificent  view  of  the  lo- 
cality in  which  we  were  traveling.  The  fare  for  the  full 
length  of  the  route  is  only  four  cents,  so  we  can  afford 
to  look  on  the  streets  and  buildings  from  an  elevated 
platform.  The  buildings  on  this  beautiful  ami  busy 
thoroughfare  are  principally  business  houses  and  nu- 
merous very  fine  hotels,  grand  in  elegance  and  beauty, 
just  in  keeping  with  the  tasteful  gardens  on  the  other 
side. 

Right  here  is  something  that  attracts  our  attention. 
This  is  a  beautiful  monument  erected  to  the  great  Scotch 
novelist,  Sir  Walter  Scott,  situated  in  the  garden  front- 
ing on  the  street.  It  was  not  because  of  its  large  pro- 
portions and  extraordinary  elevation,  but  the  quaint, 
original  style  of  architecture  takes  our  fancy.  Tins  im- 
posing structure  is  of  the  Gothic  order,  with  numerous 
little  towers,  turrets  and  spires  tapering  towards  the 
top.  Within  the  d  ima  on  a  low  pedestal  is  a  finely 
chiseled  statue  of  the  sage  of  Abbottsford.  The  figure 
is  iu  a  sittiug  position,  assuming  a  very  studious  attitude 


To  Ettrofe  ar.d  Back,  37 

with  a  largo  roll  of  manuscript  in  his  closed  hand,  no 
doubt  a  copy  of  his  "  Heart  ol  Midlothian."  Not  know- 
ing much  about  Sir  Walter,  one  might  pass  giving  the 
fine  mouun.eut  only  a  cursory  look,  but  to  those  who 
have  become  acquainted  with  him  through  his  wonder- 
ful literary  productions,  this  piece  of  statuary  posessess 
an  abs-orbing  interest,  for  on  each  little  turret  we  find 
fac  similes  of  many  of  his  favorite  characters.  Front- 
ing on  Princesses  "street,  standing  out  in  bold  relief,  is 
the  well  known  form  of  baillie  Nicol  Jurvie,  assuming  a 
very  comical  attitude  of  astonishment,  he  is  doubtless 
listening  to  the  burning  language  of  the  highland  out- 
law, Rob  Roy,  who  is  looking  down  upon  him  from  the 
next  little  tower.  On  the  left  of  the  Glasgow  deacon 
we  notice  the  portly  form  of  Direk  Hatterick,  beside 
him  is  the  shrewd,  cunning  eyed  "  Meg  Merrilles," 
while  further  round  and  higher  up  is  Dominie  Samson, 
swinging  his  arms  about  him  like  a  wind  mill.  Near 
him  Is  a  line  representation  of  Jonathan  Oldbuek,  the 
antiquary  :  still  higher  up  we  notice  the  Dugal  Creature; 
not  far  from  him  is  Helen  McGregor;  a  little  farther 
round  on  the  garden  side  and  we  observe  the  well 
known  features  of  Guy  Manneriug;  beside  him  is  Dan- 
die  Dinmout;  away  up  and  in  a  little  niche,  looking 
over  the  vu  ley  of  flowers  we  notice  the  lovely  form  and 
sweet  features  of  the  gentle  "Di  Vernon,"  while  not 
far  from  her,  looking  frowningly,  is  the  villainous 
countenance  of  Rashleigh  Osbaldistone,  and  so  we 
might  go  on  and  find  familiar  faces  until  we  reach  the 
top  of  the  monument,  but  time  passes,  so  we  have  to 
.'cave  Sir  Walter  and  his  wonderfully  created  compan- 
ions with  a  great  deal  of  reluctance  and  pass  along  the 
busy  thoroughfare  towards  the  west  end.  Looking  east- 
ward on  Princesses  street,  from  the  Caledonian  rail- 
way station  the  view  is  very  fine,  for  you  behold  the 
crowded  street,  the  fine  gardens,  the  Waverly  market 
buildings,  also  the  great  depot  with  the  grim  old  castle 
standing  guard  over  it. 

A  short  distance  southward  and  we  cross  the  mead- 
ows, beautiful  grass  plats,  for  the  most  part  public 
grounds  and  very  neatly  kept.  Then  we  are  at  War 
render  Park,  where  large  agricultural  exhibitiousare 
held.  The  buildings  here  are" very  pretty  and  many  of 
them  appear  to  have  been  built  but  recently  and  in  a 

461471 


38  To  Europe  and  Back 

modern  style  of  architecture.    Wespent  some  time  very 
pleasantly  in  this  portion  of  the  city.    Further  south  in 
the  suburbs  is  the  great  Moruingside  Asylum  for  the  in- 
sane.   Crossing  the  meadows  in  a  northeasterly  direct- 
ion,   we    pass   the    hospital,  which   occupies   an    entire 
square  and  is  one  of  the  largest  institutions  in  the  coun- 
try.    In  this  direction   »"e  soon  reach  the  grass  market, 
a  very  old  place.     From  here  we  get  an  excellent  view 
of  the  castle  from  the  other  side.     A  long  flight  of  steps 
leads  from  here  to  the  promenade,  where  we  obtain  a 
birds-eye  view  of  the  city.     Here  is  the  entrance  to  the 
wonderful  old  castle,  and  the  admission  price  is  twenty- 
five  cents.     The  internal  arrangement  is  much  the  same 
as  several  otuer  ancient  places  we  had  visited,  contain- 
ing dungeons  dark  and  strong.     One  large  room  con- 
tains many  curiosities,  the  sword  of  Sir   William  Wal- 
lace, the  crown  jewels  of  Scotland,  the  helmet  of  King 
Robert   Bruce,    and    the    celebrated    cannon,    "  Mons 
Meg,"  is  out  on  the  ramparts.     There  are  also  many 
other  relics  and  pictures  of  .Scotch  royalty,  but   we  can- 
not begin  to  enumerate  them  in  this  brief  sketch,  for 
this  would  almost  fill  a  volume  of  itself.     Outside  on 
the  north     of    the    promenade   we  notice    many  neat 
memorial  tablets  erected  to  the  memory  <  f  deceased  oil" 
icers;   but  the  clock  on  the  great  St.  Giles  Cathedral,  is 
pealing  forth  in  deep  sonorous  tones,  warning  us  that 
time  is  passing,  so  we  leave  our  elevated   position   and 
again  mingle  with  the  passing  throng  in  the  busy  streets 
below.     A   number  of  people   are  gathered   around   a 
couple  of  strolling  musicians,  who  were  discoursing  mu- 
sic.     We  thought  that  the  music  was  a  little  harsh  and 
discordant,  so  gave  them  a  few  coppers  and  suggested 
that  theygiveus"  Yankee  Doodle"  and  "Dixie."  The  au- 
dience uiil  not  seem  to  he  very  much  enthused  at  bearing 
those   sweet    soul-stirring    airs,    but  to  us    the    music 
sounded  very  pleasant  ami  our  heart  gave  a  start  of  joy, 
for  the  melody   of  Dixie  carried  ns  to  where  the   sun 
shines  bright  in  the   "old  Kentucky  home."     Well,  if 
if  we  did  wipe  a  little  moisture  from  our  face,  please  do 
not  think  too  hard  of  us,  for  you  may  also  chance  to  be 
a  longdistance  from  home  some  day  and  will  then  bet- 
ter understand  those  feelings. 

fiie  best  view  of  the  city  and  surrounding  country  is 
obtained  from  the  summit  of  Aithur'sSeat,  a  very  high 


To   Europe  and  Back.  39 

rocky  point  nearly  three  miles  eastward.  The  ascent  is 
very  laborious,  but  the  sights  well  repay  one  for  any  ex- 
tra* trouble.  Surmounting  this  elevation  are  several 
huge  masses  of  blackish  looking  rock  of  hard  material, 
for  we  had  considerable  difficulty  in  breaking  a  piece 
from  the  loftiest  point  to  put  in  our  pocket  as  a  me- 
mento. Although  calm  and  pleasant  in  the  city,  when 
we  get  up  here  it  is  blowing  almost  a  hurricane,  for  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  we  retained  our  bal- 
ance. A  short  distance  eastward  is  the  German  ocean, 
presenting  a"  fine  stretch  of  coast  from  Berwick  round 
the  shores  of  Fife  as  far  as  the  Frith  of  Tay.  Many  dan- 
cing prows  are  seen  tossing  on  its  turbulent  waters.  In 
tbe  distance  southward  we  can  distinguish  the  famous 
Bass  rock  off  the  coast  of  Berwick.  On  the  point  is 
Dunbar,  while  nearer  in  a  small  inlet,  with  a  tiny  cloud 
of  smoke  hanging  over  it,  is  tbe  fishing  town  of  Mussel- 
burgh, and  a  short  distance  below  us  is  Portobello.  Prop- 
erly speaking  this  is  but  a  tributary  of  Edinburgh. 
Here  is  a  fine  pier  and  elevated  promenade,  many  peo- 
ple gathering  here  during  the  summer  months  to  iu- 
haltTthe  delightful  sea  breeze*.  To  the  south  landward 
the  scenery  is  grand,  fine  rich  farms  and  numerous  old 
castles  almost  hidden  among  the  forest  verdure,  while 
tbe  beautiful  green  Peutland  hills  make  a  very  beauti- 
ful background.  Away  northward  is  the  small  island 
of  Inch  Keith.  Like  a  mere  speck  in  the  distance, 
twelve  miles  off  the  Arbroath  coast,  is  the  Inch  Cape  or 
Bell  Rock  Lighthouse.  Turning  our  eyes  westward  and 
we  are  looking  down  upon  the  city.  There  is  no  haze 
or  covering  of  smoke  to  destroy  the  view.  We  can  only 
gaze  and  exclaim  "  how  beautiful."  What  a  labyriuth 
of  spires,  towers  and  minarets  in  every  shape  and  style 
imaginable,  each  marking  some  educational  institution, 
or  some  sacred  or  religious  edifice.  We  cannot  help 
feeling  what  a  grand  place  our  eyes  are  now  resting 
upon. 

What  a  long  catalogue  of  names  comes  looming  be- 
fore our  mind.  Here  Chalmers  gave  his  grand  volumes 
of  information  to  the  people;  here  the  great  divine,  Dr. 
Guthrie  wandered  the  streets  and  gathered  the  ragged 
waifs  into  the  Sunday  school;  here  Norman  McLeod 
fabored  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  people  and  pub- 
lished his  good  words;  in  this  place  John  Knox  thun- 


40  To  Eurcpt  mid  Back 

dered  forth  burning  truths  during  the  reformation,  and 

la-re  also  professor  Blackie  still  lives  and  instructs  the 
people  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Celtic  language.  But  we 
nui>t  pause  and  hold  our  breath,  for  right  below  us  is 
the  grand  old  palace  of  Holy  rood.  What  wonderful  vis- 
ions the  sight  of  it  awakens  in  our  mind  ;  what  myster- 
ious scenes  and  terrible  tragi  dies  have  been  enacted  in 
the  old  castle  during  the  reign  of  the  unfortunate  Mary, 
and  all  through  the  long  line  of  Scottish  kings.  Large 
potraitsof  Riz/.io,  1)  irnley  and  Queen  Mary  are  very  cou- 
spicious  objects.  Queen  Victoria  stays  in  this  palace 
when  she  visits  the  Capital.  Near  this  is  a  neat  monu- 
ment to  the  poet  Burns.  Over  on  the  rising  ground  is 
the  Calton  bill,  with  the  jail  buildings  and  a  line  obser- 
vatory, a  gun  being  discharged  every  day,  denoting 
Greenwich  time,  at  one  p.  m.  Westward  from  here  and 
we  soon  enter  the  O-tnuongate,  the  principal  street 
in  the  old  town.  It  is  very  narrow  with  high  buildings 
on  either  side.  A  century  ago  this  was  the  main 
thoroughfare  in  the  city  and  considered  a  grand  place, 
but  it  is  now  mostly  tenanted  by  the  lower  classes. 

About  the  middle  of  the  long,  winding,  narrow  street 
we  observe  the  house  in  which  the  great  reformer,  John 
Knox,  lived.  The  steps  leading  to  it  they  say  are  in 
much  the  same  condition  as  they  were  in  those  trouble- 
some times  when  he  held  meetings  there;  indeed, 
there  is  so  much  of  interest  to  be  seen  here  that  we  al- 
most grow  bewildered,  for  every  place  we  are  pissing 
has  a  history,  but  we  have  not  time  to  review  each  as  we 
pass.  Another  very  potent  reason  is  that  we  are  far 
from  being  capable  of  turning  historian,  so  with  uncov- 
ered heads  we  take  a  long  look  eastward  from  the  Cale- 
donian statiou,  and  in  the  meantime  bill  adieu  to  the  fa- 
mous city  of  Ediuboro,  thence  on  to  Glasgow  and  the 
busier  scenes  on  ihe  Clyde. 


LETTER  NO,  8, 


GLASGOW  AND  THE  CLYDE. 


The  aspect  of  the  country  from  Edinburg  to  the 
great  western  metropolis,  Glasgow,  is  not  very  inviting, 
and  a  few  places  of  interest  to  be  seen  and  very  little 
diversity  of  scenery,  minerals  of  various  kinds  being  the 
only  productions  of  this  low,  sterile  district,  but  though 
bleak  and  the  soil  almost  worthless  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, still  there  are  many  neat  places  to  be  seen  cosily 
situated  among  the  patches  ot  green  woodland.  The 
deep,  winding  Carron  is  about  the  only  river  between 
the  two  great  cities,  coursing  along  through  a  precipi- 
tous rocky  valley.  Coal,  iron  and  lime  are  to  be  found 
here  in  abundance.  The  ore  is  of  very  superior  quality, 
but  the  coal  and  lime  are  of  a  very  inferior  grade.  The 
approaches  to  Glasgow  from  the  east  are  quite  the  re- 
verse of  pretty.  The  distance  between  these  two  prin- 
cipal cities  is  about  fifty  milts,  and  a  long  distance  be- 
fore the  Clyde  is  reached  we  aie  passing  through 
among  the  busy  scenes  of  smoke-begrimed  labor,  so  that 
by  the  time  we  reach  the  city  proper  we  are  pretty  well 
initiated  into  the  appearance  of  this  industrious  hive  of 
mercantile  and  commercial  pursuits. 

Looking  from  the  bridge  southward  and  the  glories 
of  the  river  Clyde  are  spread  out  before  us.  It  cannot 
be  called  pretty  in  a  scenic  sense,  but  the  humble,  hard- 
working artisan  can  no  doubt  perceive  the  perfection  of 
beauty  under  this  thick  covering  of  smoke  and  tumul- 
tuous noise,  for  it  affords  him  the  means  of  living  and 
furnishes  food  and  raiment  for  his  wife  and  dearly  loved 
little  ones.  The  merchant  and  the  manufacturer  can 
also  detect  the  loftiest  type  of  beauty  in  the  cloud  that 
hangs  over  the  city  and  river,  while  to  the  ship  owner 
and  those  whose  interests  are  connected  with  com- 
mercial pursuits  on  the  mighty  deep,  they  have  doubt- 
less more    beauty    and  attractions  than    in  the  love- 


42  To  Europt  and  Back 

licst  scenery  on  earth.  Although  there  is  really 
nothing  of  an  aesthetic;  nature  to  be  seen,  or  that 
would  be  agreeable  to  the  refined  taste  of  an  Oscar  Wilde, 
still,  it  must  be  admitted  thai  the  picture  is  a  great  and 
a  magnificent  one.  Unlike  Liverpool  there  are  no  va- 
riety of  line  docks;  but  the  Broomielaw,  fronting  on 
great  Clyde  street,  gives  ample  pier  room,  Tins  is  per- 
haps the -most  charmingly  animated  place  in  the  city ; 
indeed,  there  is  hut  little  of  veal  interest  to  be  seen  in 
the  busintss  portion  of  the  town.  The  streets  and  build- 
ings are  so  much  akin  to  some  of  our  large  American 
cities,  that  we  feel  almost  at  home.  Buchanan  street 
is  the  main  thoroughfare.  Trongate  church  is  an  impos- 
ing edifice.  G'asgow  Green  and  the  famous  Tolbooth 
are  rather  historic  places.  The  town  is  well  supplied 
with  the  very  best  of  water  conveyed  in  pipes  nearly 
fifty  miles  from  :i  beautiful  small  lake  called  Loch  Ka- 
trine. The  fall  is  sufficient  to  give  great  power  in  case 
of  u  fire.  Of  course  we  very  naturally  inquired  of  the 
people  which  are  the  most,  important  and  desirable 
places  for  a  stranger  to  see.  With  great  unanimity  they 
informed  us  that  the  Broomielaw,  the  river  and  the  ex- 
tensive ship-building-  yards  were1  the  first  sights  we 
ought  to  see.  After  feasting  our  eyes  for  a  time  on  the 
splendidly  animated  picture,  we  fully  agreed  with  them 
that  this  is  about  the  only  place  in  this  large  city  of 
nearly  half  a  million  inhabitants  that  would  be  likely 
to  take  our  fancy. 

This  is  the  third  city  in  the  united  kingdom  as  to 
population,  and  as  a  manufacturing  center  ranks  about 
the  same;  but  in  the  industry  of  iron  ship  building  it 
is  away  far  ahead  of  any  other  port  in  the  British  do- 
minions and  perhaps  in  the  world.  Nearly  all  of  the 
great  Atlantic  steamships  are  built  and  fitted  up  for 
sea  at  this  place.  The  Anchor,  Alan,  State  and  Orien- 
tal fleet  of  steamers  are  all  built  here.  The  Inman, 
Guion,  White  Star  and  the  magnificent  Cunard  lines 
have  been  constructed  within  sight  of  this  busy  Scotch 
town.  Steamers  for  pleasure  sailing  are  plentiful,  and 
we  can  spend  a  day  very  pleasantly  and  profitably  at 
very  little  exDense.  You  can  take  a  trip  down  the 
river  a  distance  of  sixty  miles  and  return  tor  two  shill- 
ings—fifty  cents.  Good  meals  are  furnished  on  hoard 
for  forty  cents,  but  you  can  take  your  lunch  basket  along, 


To  Europe  and  Back.  43 

which  will  prove  very  convenient.  The  scene  on  the 
river  was  so  inviting  that  we  really  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  of  makinga  trip  southwestward  towards  the 
coast;  so  in  company  of  two  dear  friends  take  passage 
on  the  fine  pleasure  steamer,  Edinburg  Castle,  a  very 
swift  running  craft,  after  getting  away  from  among  the 
density  of  vessels,  making  twenty  miles  an  hour.  On 
leaving  the  pier  further  progress  seemed  to  he  com- 
pletely barred,  so  many  crafts  of  divers  description, 
sloops,  schooners,  barques,  brigs  and  full  rigged  ships, 
but  by  far  the  largest  proportion  are  steam  vessels. 
On  either  side  of  the  river  the  latter  are  lying  two  deep. 
The  Broomielaw  extends  along  the  west  hank  of  the 
river  for  nearly  two  miles.  At  the  termination  is  Stob- 
croos  quay,  the  pier  of  the  Anchor  line  of  Atlantic  mail 
steamships.  Their  line  steamer,  Bolivia,  is  in  port  pre- 
senting a  tine  appearance  from  the  river,  her  magnifi- 
cent hull  towering  many  feet  above  the  water  Directly 
opposite  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream  is  Mavis  Bank 
Key,  where  lies  the  line  steamships  of  the  State  line. 
The  State  of  Nevada  has  just  arrived  from  New  York 
and  appears  to  he  well  down  in  the  water.  A  little 
above  this  is  the  pier  of  the  Alan  line.  The  Nova 
Scotia  has  lately  reached  this  port  from  Boston  and 
Halifax.  The  river  is  about  three- fourths  of  a  mile  in 
width,  Imt  the  tide  standing  up  beyond  this  gives  a  fine 
depth  of  water,  for  large  vessels  can  pass  up  and  down, 
drawing  twenty-five  feet  of  water. 

AVe  now  reach  ihe  extensive  iron  ship  building  yards. 
The  sight  is  indeed  grand  and  very  interesting,  but  the 
noise  is  almost  unbearable.  The  ringing  tones  of  the 
hammer,  so  peculiar  in  riveting,  produces  a  troublesome 
sensation  to  those  not  accustomed  to  such  unharmouious 
sounds.  There  are  vessels  in  all  stages  of  construction, 
from  the  bare,  skeleton-looking  outline  to  the  placing 
of  the  machinery.  The  tonnage  of  vessels  that  are 
turned  oil  the  ways  yearly  aggregate  millions.  One 
firm  has  just  completed  a  very  fine  large  steamer  for 
1  he  Cunard  company,  the  Pavonia.  She  registers  eight 
thousand  four  hundred  and  fitty  tons;  length,  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-five  feet;  breadth  of  beam,  sixty-five 
feel  ;  depth  of  hold,  fifty  feet.  She  is  built  as  a  compan- 
ion vessel  for  the  Servia  of  the  same  line.  These  ships 
are  constructed  looking  more  toward  safety  and  com- 


44  Tc  Europt  and  Back 

fort  than  a  high  rate  of  speed,  for  they  are  not  calcula- 
ted to  make  more  than  sixteen  to  eighteen  knots  an 
hour.  This  busy,  musical  scene,  continues  on  both  sides 
Of  the  river  for  nearly  eight  miles,  then  we  pass  the 
town  of  Renfrew,  where  there  is  also  some  shipping. 
Some  little  distance  inland  is  the  old-fashioned  town  of 
Paisely,  the  home  of  the  great  Clark  thread  manufacto- 
ries. It  is  situated  on  a  small  stream  called  the  White 
Cart,  noted  for  the  extraordinary  purifying  qualities  of 
its  water,  furnishing  a  plentiful  supply,  ennabling  them 
to  manufacture  the  very  finest  of  thread  and  Paisely 
shawls.  Haifa  century  ago  these  fine  fabrics  were  all 
woven  by  hand  loom  weavers,  which  at  that  time  were 
a  very  numerous  and  justly  famous  class.  Although 
not  gifted  or  blest  with  anything  further  than  the  rudi- 
ments of  education,  yet,  nevertheless,  many  were  pos- 
sessed of  superior  minds.  Robert  TannahiP,  the  wea- 
ver poet,  produced  some  of  the  sweetest  lyric  songs  in 
thelanguage.  His  "  Braes  of  Gleniffer"  are  still  dear  to 
the  heart  of  every  Scotchman.  These  famous  weavers, 
tiring  of  being  seated  at  the  loom  so  constantly,  devoted 
a  considerable  portion  of  their  leisure  hours  to  floricult- 
ure. The  pink  was  their  favorite  flower,  und  in  grow- 
ing this  they  excelled,  their  productions  in  tins  line 
bringing  very  remunerative  prices,  and  to-day  the  cel- 
ebrated Paisely  pink  is  held  in  high  estimation  among 
florists.  There  are  a  good  many  fine  specimens  ol  this 
favorite  flower  to  be  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paisely. 
Further  down  the  river  on  the  opposite  side  is  Dunbar- 
ton  with  its  grand  old  castle  almost  surrounded  by 
water  at  high  tide.  A  very  strong  place,  beetling  over 
a  high  almost  perpendicular  rock.  No  doubt  many 
strange  scenes  have*  been  enacted  in  this  grim  old  build- 
ing during  the  feudal  times  in  the  early  history  of  the 
country.  Some  miles  north  of  this  is  the  famous  Loch 
Lomond,  with  its  grand  mountain  scenery;  indeed,  it 
looks  more  like  an  Alpine  picture  than  a  quiet  Scottish 
pastoral  scene.  Not  far  from  this  is  the  great  pass  of 
Lochard,  where  the  outlaw  MacGregor  defied  and  kept 
at  bay  a  body  of  soldiers  who  were  sent  to  capture  him. 
The  scenery  through  this  district  is  really  grand  and 
majestic.  Leaving  Dun  barton  the  monotonous  ring  of 
ship-building  partially  ceases  until  we  reach  Greenock, 
a  city  of  some.sixty  thousand  inhabitants.     Rain  is  said 


To  Europe  and  Back.  45 

to  fall  hero  more  or  less  two  hundred  days  in  a  year. 
For  this  we  arc  ready  to  vouch,  for  it  mined  every  (, 
we  happened  to  pass  that  way.  This  is  properly  speak- 
ing the  beginning  of  the  Frith  of  Clyde,  and  more  com- 
monly designated  by  "the  tail  of  the  bank,"  as  sea-faring 
men  call  it.  Many  large  vessels  are  anchored  out  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream  either  waiting  for  a  tug  and  pilot 
to  guide  them  in  or  a  high  tide  to 'carry  them  into  port. 
There  are  also  quite  extensive  shipbuilding  operations 
carried  on  at  this  place.  The  estuary  is  nearly  ten 
miles  in  breadth  at  this  point.  Looking  across,  the  neat 
city  of  Helnsburg  is  in  full  view,  beautifully  situated  at 
the  entrance  to  Loch  Long.  Further  down  the  river  on 
the  Greenock  side  is  the  old-fashioned  town  of  Gouriek, 
its  principal  industries  being  extensive  fisheries,  the 
broad  frith  affording  a  plentiful  supply  and  variety  of 
the  finny  family.  The  water  is  thickly  dotted  over 
with  different  sorts  of  fishing  crafts.  Rounding  the 
point  a  little  further  on  the  same  side  in  a  lovely  bend 
of  the  river,  is  the  beautiful  town  of  Weymss  Bay.  This 
has  lately  become  a  celebrated  watering  place  and  is 
well  patronized  during  the  summer  months.  Right  op- 
posite on  the  coast  of  Bute  is  the  charming  village  of 
Dundoon,  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  the  cottages  con- 
trasting well  with  the  beautiful  green  hills  in  the  rear, 
making  a  lovely  picture.  A  few  miles  further  north 
the  pretty  little  town  of  Blairmore  stretches  along  the 
shore  for  a  considerable  distance. 

A  little  beyond  this  in  a  beautiful  fairy  looking  alcove 
at  the  mouth  of  a  sylvan,  leafy  ravine,  is  Ardenteenie. 
Here  the  poet  Tannahill  found  bis  maid  of  Ardenteenie. 
Of  course"  she  has  long  since  passed  away;  but  the 
place  is  everything  the  simple  weaver  poet  claimed  for 
it,  for  here  nature  has  its  fullest  sway.  Plow  lavish  sLie 
has  been  in  bestowing  her  sweet  gifts  of  beauty,  can 
be  seen  in  the  soft  grandeur  around  us.  Many  cozy 
summer  cottages  are  erected  here  where  merchants  and 
their  families  can  spend  a  month  or  two  once  a  year  and 
have  a  short  relaxation  from  business  cares  away  from 
the  din  and  bustle  of  the  large  cities.  While  looking  at 
this  lovely  retreat  a  rather  amusing  incident  occurred. 
A  lady  and  her  husband,  out  for  a  few  day's  pleasure, 
happened  to  be  on  our  steamer.  It  looked  as  if  they 
had    been    enjoying     themselves      rather     gloriously, 


46  To  Europe  and  Back. 

for  it  was  very  evident  that  both  of  them  had  imbibed 
very  freely,  determined  to  keep  their  spirits  up  by  pour- 
ing spirits  down.  As  is  quite  natural  in  such  eases,  a 
quarrel  ensued  and  a  regular  fight  took  place,  but  the 
weaker  sex  this  time  proved  to  be  the  stronger,  for  she 
soon  blackened  her  liege  lord's  eyes  lor  him,  threw  his 
new  heaver  hat  overboard  and  completely  demolished 
a  line  new  umbrella  over  Ids  unprotected  head.  The 
feminine  heroine  approached  us  and  endeavored  to  ex- 
plain matters,  but  we  at  oner  declined  to  interfere  or 
endeavor  to  settle  family  differences  A  young  lady 
kept  watching  the  proceedings  with  a  great  deal  of  in- 
terest. Ol'  course  we  thought  she  was  taking  lessons, 
perhaps  was  engaged  to  be  married,  or  something  of  that 
sort;  but  we  were  agreably  surprised  to  hear  her  burst 
out  in  heartfelt  indignation,  upbraiding  the  husband  for 
cowardice.  Naturally,  we  became  much  attached  to 
such  a  woman  as  t his,  and  remained  pretty  close  to  her 
during  the  remainder  of  the  trip.  On  the  whole  there 
was  a  good  deal  of  merriment  at  the  expense  of  the 
worthy  couple,  and  it  will  he  many  days  before  we  fail 
to  remember  Ardenteenie. 

Leaving  this  we  pass  through  part  of  Loch  Long,  then 
into  Loch  Goil,  and  are  soon  encircled  among  the  mount- 
ains. On  the  shores  of  this  beautiful  lakelet  at  the  base 
of  the  frowning  hills,  are  numerous  neat  cottages  peep- 
inn'  from  among  the  thicket  of  soft  green  shrubbery. 
Behiud  this  are  a  lew  rows  of  forest  trees,  then  the  high 
hills  tower,  beetling  in  curious  shaped  crags  as  if  they  at 
any  moment  would  topple  over  into  th  loch.  Near  the 
head  of  the  lake  is  the  ruins  of  Oarrick  Castle.  Here  the 
Steamer  changes  her  course  a  little  and  in  a  few  minutes 
teaches  Loch  Goil  Head.  A  rather  ominous  sign  board 
is  placed  very  conspicuously  at  the  pier  where  the  pass 
engers  disembark.  The  letters  are  very  plain  and  large, 
and  read  thus;  "This  is  the  way  to  Hell's  Glen."  Our 
companions  became  a  little  alarmed  at  the  locality  we 
were  in  and  concluded  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  go 
any  further.  However,  by  a  little  reasoning  they  were 
at  last  induced  to  step  on  shore  and  pass  the  fearful  sign, 
where  we  had  a  very  comfortable  dinner  in  this  curious 
mountain  district.  Here  as  well  as  at  the  other  way 
landings,  the  passengers  pay  the  wharfage,  each  person 
paying   a    half-penny— one    cent — as    they    leave    the 


To  Europe  and  Back.  47 

steamer  and  another  when  they  go  on  board  again. 
You  pass  along  a  gangway  Indian  tilt",  so  there  is  no 
chance  for  dodging  ;  away  over  the  mountains  from 
here  and  we  would  soon  reach  Inverary,  the  principal 
place  in  the  western  highlands.  Steamers  do  not  re- 
main long  here,  so  we  soon  rind  ourselves  in  the  Clyde 
again.  Westward  from  Dunoon  is  the  famous  and  fairy- 
like Kyles  of  Bute.  The  scenery  here  would  com- 
pare favorably  with  any  to  be  seen  on  the  celebrated 
Rhine,  in  Switzerland.  Up  through  these  beautiful  in- 
lets you  soon  reach  the  west  coast  and  are  within  sight 
of  the  Hebrides.  Further  down  the  frith  is  the  beautiful 
island  of  Arran,  then  stretching  out  towards  the  Atlan- 
tic is  the  barren  looking  mull  of  Cantyre;  pass  Alisa 
Craig  and  you  are  out  at  sea. 

Having  enjoyed  this  trip  so  much,  our  resolves  are 
made  to  cross  the  Irish  Sea  to  Erin,  so  in  a  few  days  we 
make  our  way  to  Greenock,  and  amidst  pouring  rain 
we  step  on  board  the  steamer  Duke  of  Arnyle,  hound  for 
Ireland.  So,  with  fair  wind  and  pleasant  sea,  to-mor- 
row's sun  will  shine  upon  us  in  Dublin  Bay. 


LETTER  NO,  9, 


IN  THE  LAND  OF  THE  SHAMROCK. 


After  a  uiaht  of  rolling  and  tossing  on  the  Irish  Sea, 
one  is  not  in  the  very  best  condition  to  become  enthused 
with  the  appearance  of  the  country  ;  but  to  say  the  least, 
a  sight  of  the  high  hills  and  verdant  coast  gives  :i  de- 
cided feeling  of  relief,  for  if  the  pitching  must  continue, 
there  is  something  tO  rest  the  eye  upon  and  divert  our 
attention  from  the  tread-miil,   perpetual  motion  sort  of 
style.    Skirting  along  the  shore,  a  good  view  of  the 
country  is  obtained  and  the  neat  looking  seaboard  towns 
on    the   Irish    coast.     'The   entrance    to   the    Irish    Sea 
through  the  North  Channel  is  rather  narrow,  tor  land 
is  distinctly  visible  from  Donaghadee,  near  Belfast  and 
Port  Patrick,  and  the  mull  of  Calloway  on  the  Scotch 
coast.    The  distance  can  not  he  more  than  forty  miles. 
Dundalk  is  a  very  pretty  little  town  at  the  head  of  a 
small  inlet.     The  country  has  a  pleasant  appearance  and 
well  adapted  tor  agricultural  purposes.    The  surface  of 
the  earth  is  gently  rolling  and  apparently  well  cultiva- 
ted.   Next  comes  the  old  fashioned  town  of  Drogheda, 
a  very  important  point  for  the  shipment  of  stock  to  the 
Liverpool  and  (  MasgOW  markets.    Several  lines  of  Steam 
cis  are  engaged  in  the  trade     These  vessels  also  carry  a 
limited  number  ol  passengers,  but,  although  there  may 
be  but  one  person  in  addition  to  the  crew,  that  person 
is  very  apt  to  conclude  that  he  is  one  too  many,  for  the 
accommodations  are  of  the  poorest   kind  and  the  pass- 
age quite  the  reverse  of  comfortable.    The  country  here 
does  not  appear  to  he  very  productive.     The  cattle  are 
driven    from  a  long  distance  inland   to  this   place   for 
shipment  from  the  direction  of  Navan    and    the   fine 
grazing  country  near  Mulliugar.     Sheep  are   brought 
here  from   points  still   further  west  in  the  line   pastoral 
region  of  Athlone  and  away  nearly  as  far  as  the  more 
sterile  country  of  Donegal,  and  north  towards  the  line 


To  Europe  and  Back.  49 

sheep  farming  section,  near  the  loveliest  of  spots,  Ennis- 
killen.  Pigs  are  also  brought  in  large  quantities  from 
the  surrounding  counties,  it  being  considered  better  to 
bring  them  over  land  to  this  place  for  shipment,  than 
to  risk  a  long  and  stormy  passage  from  Gal  way,  by  the 
way  of  the  North  Channel;  indeed,  it  looks  something 
like  a  miniature  Donnvhrook  fair,  for  men  women  and 
children  are  engaged  in  bringing  the  productions  of  their 
farms  to  market. 

Southward  the  appearance  of  the  country  becomes 
more  cheerful,  many  parts  thickly  wooded  and  pretty 
farm  buildings.  Then  comes  the  Howth,  a  rocky  prom- 
ontory on  which  a  beautiful  lighthouse  is  erec  ed.  The 
built 'rocks  are  passed,  and  we  steam  with  sa'ety  into 
the  famous  Dublin  Bay.  On  the  south  side  of  this  pretty 
inlet  is  the  grand  old  city  of  Kingstown,  a  strongly  for- 
tified place  containing  a  large  garrison.  This  is  one  of 
the  neatest  looking  cities  we  have  yet  seen,  seemingly 
a  very  busy  and  prosperous  place  At  present  there  is 
much  activity,  for  steamers  are  ready  for  the  embarka- 
tion of  troops  for  Egypt.  At  the  further  end  of  the  bay 
is  the  mouth  of  the  river  Litfey.  On  the  south  side  is 
a  stone  pier  many  miles  in  length,  the  narrow  platform 
stretching  far  out  into  the  sea.  Tins  is  a  very  pretty 
sight,  but  some  would  not  care  about  having  a  prom- 
enade thereon,  for  it  is  most  certain  to  cause  giddiness 
to  those  not  used  to  the  water.  So  intent  were  we  in 
examining  these  beautiful  approaches  to  the  city,  that 
the  discomforts  of  the  past  night  fade  away  and  we  soon 
realize  that  the  grand  city  before  us  is  Dublin,  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Emerald  Isle.  Steaming  up  the  Liftey  we  ob- 
serve a  cctisideiable  amount  of  shipping  and  several 
Atlantic  lines,  but  the  principal  commerce  is  along  the 
coast  of  the  British  Islands. 

Touching  the  pier  there  are  many  faces  that  appear 
familiar  to  us,  although  never  having  seen  them  before. 
No  doubt  we  were  thinking  of  and  coupling  them  with 
our  many  kind  Hibernian  friends  at  home  ;  indeed,  wo 
felt  a  sort  of  home  feeling  stealing  over  us  as  our  feet 
touch  the  shore.  This  is  Eden  Quay,  a  very  appropri- 
ate name,  for  there  are  many  grand  and  majestic  struct- 
ures on  the  busy  street  The  custom-house  building  is 
really  an  imposing  edifice.  Having  occasion  to  get  a 
little  renovated  in    the  shape  of  shoes,  blacking,  etc., 


50  To  Europe  and  Back. 

our  temporary  valet  very  soon  detected  that  our  foot- 
wear was  of  American  manufacture.  You  may  be 
sure  that  there  was  no  denial  on  our  part;  indeed,  we 
were  proud  to  think  that  there  was  at  least  something 
American  about  us,  Of  course  we  did  not  deem  it  nec- 
essary to  inform  our  friend  of  the  brush  and  polish,  that 
they  had  been  purchased  from  the  celebrated  boot  and 
shoe  house  of  J.  H.  Pecor.  He  had  admitted  that  the 
polishing  process  was  much  easier  accomplished  on 
these  goods  than  the  home  make.  We  very  promptly 
informed  him  that  this  was  a  natural  trait  of  the  Amer- 
ican nation  susceptibility  of  taking  on  a  fine  polish. 
Says  he,  "What  do  you  think  of  our  custom  house?" 
"Avery  fine  building,"  we  replied.  "  Please  step  out 
on  the  Key  and  examine  it,"  he  continued;  "  the  finest 
building  in  the  world."  As  we  looked  up  from  the  pier 
we  thought  the  assertion  was  rather  broad  and  sweep- 
ing. Doubtless  he  had  not  the  least  conception  of  the 
magnificent  structures  to  be  seen  in  the  United  States. 
However,  the  building  was  really  a  grand  one,  dark, 
massive  and  of  superior  workmanship,  occupying  an  en- 
tire square,  with  a  finely  chiseled  figure  of  Justice  sur- 
mounting the  dome.  The  portals  are  heavy  and  awe- 
some. A  flight  of  huge  stone  steps  leads  to  the  front 
entrance,  and  no  doubt  as  ihe  man  had  said  it  is  the 
grandest  building  in  Great  Britain,  the  poor  fellow  think- 
ing, perhaps,  that  any  place  outside  of  old  Erin  was  in- 
significant and  almost  out  of  the  world— his  world  at 
least,  for  an  Irishman  dearly  loves  his  country.  Even 
though  it  is  sometimes  a  little  unsettled,  it  is  all  the 
pride  of  his  heart.  Living  here  is  very  cheap.  The 
poor  fellow  only  charged  us  a  penny — two  cents — for 
his  trouble.  We  could  not  have  obtained  the  same 
amount  of  labor  at  home  for  less  than  twenty-five  cents. 
Hotel  fare  is  also  very  reasonable.  Very  comfortable 
quarters  can  be  had  including  board  for  four  shillings- 
one  dollar — per  day.  We  were  fortunate  to  secure  good 
accommodation  in  the  Leinster  House,  at  the  foot  of  the 
great  Sackville  street. 

This  is  by  far  the  finest  street  in  the  city  or  any  street 
in  the  country.  A  fine  view  of  it  is  obtained  from  the 
South  Bridge  The  broad  thoroughfare  presents  a  busy 
scene,  hundreds  of  jaunting  cars  driving  to  and  fro  ready 
for  hire,  also  numerous  tram  car  lines  intersect  this  fine 


To  Europe  and  Back.  51 

street.     The  buildings  are  high  and  very  massive  and 
very  substantially  built.    Near  the  bridge  is  a  beautiful 
statue  to  the  memory  of  the  great  orator  and  statesman, 
Daniel  O'Connell.    Half  way  up  the  street  near  the 
general  postoffice  stands  a  magnificent  monument  to 
the  memory  of  admiral  Lord   Nelson.    The  shaft   is 
comparatively  plain.    About  twenty  feet  from  the  base 
are  the  inscriptions  of  his  numerous  naval  victories. 
Crowning  the  whole  structure  at  an  extraordinary  al- 
titude is  a  fine  figure  of  the  great  naval  hero  in  admi- 
ral's uniform.    Taking  it  all  in  all,  there  is  no   finer 
street  than  Sackville  in  her  majesty's  dominions.    After 
taking  a  good  view  of  this  portion  of  the  city  we  cross 
the  Liffey  by  the  King  William  bridge  to  the  south  side, 
and  then  steer  in  the  direction  of  Phoenix  Park.     On 
this  route  we  touch  Dublin  Castle,  a  very  old  looking 
place.     There  are  barracks  and  a  few  soldiers  within 
the  enclosure,  but  no  fortifications,  and  really  it  does 
not  have  much  the  appearance  of  a  castle.    The  most 
imposing  building  in  this  section  of  the  city  is  Christ's 
Church,  covering  an  entire  square  and  of  the  most  mod- 
ern style  of  architecture.     Near  the  park  are  very  fine 
buildings.    Although  a  public  highway  leads  through 
the  park,  there  are  massive  gates  with  policemen  guard- 
ing the  entrance.    To  the  right  of  the  main  road  as  you 
enter  there  is  a  beautiful  cottage,  gateway  and  foot  path, 
which  admits  and  leads  through  the  decorative  portion 
of  the  grounds.    These  are  very  tastefully  laid  out  and 
neatly  kept.    In  the  lower  part  are  numerous  charming 
lakelets  covered  with  a  soft  verdure  of  water  lilies,  their 
beautiful  white  flowers  with  pearly  heads  resting  on  the 
water,  presenting  a  lovely  picture  in  the  sunlight.    This 
floral  portion  of  the  grounds  are  entirely  separated  from 
the  park  proper.     At  the  southwest  corner  the  highway 
diverges  offin  three  directions,  south,  north,  and  the 
main  one  continuing  westward.    A  grand  public  mon- 
ument is  here  erected  with  a  tiresome  flight  of  steps  a 
long  distance  up  to  it.     A  little  further  on  by  the  main 
road  is  a  drive  that  leads  to  the  zoological  garden,  near  the 
banks  of  the  Liffey.     Still  on  the  main  highway  about 
half  a  mile  further  west  on  the  right,  some  distance  off, 
is  the  residence  of  the  lord  lieutenant.    Onward  a  few 
steps  to  the  left  are  several  neatly   rounded  clumps  of 
trees. 


£2  To  Europe  and  Back. 

Here  is  the  scene  of  the  murder  of  Cavendish  and 
Burke.  Near  one  of  these  clumps  of  trees  the  two  were 
eon versing,  when  they  were  attacked.  Mr.  Burke,  af- 
ter struggling  with  tin- assassin  fur  a  distance  of  twenty 
paces,  was  the  first  total!  mortally  wounded  on  the  edge 
of  the  foot-path.  Lord  Cavendish  reached  a  few  steps 
hut  her  and  fell  lifelesson  the  side  o!  the  highway.  We 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  party  of  ladies,  who  de- 
scribed the  whole  affair  very  minutely  and  intelligently. 
We  picked  up  a  pebble  on  the  very  spot  where  the  men 
fell  and  put  it  in  our  pocket  as  ;i  memento.  The  dis- 
tance from  this  place  to  S-iekville  street  is  nearly  five 
miles  and  a  rather  lonely  portion  of  the  park.  Mounted 
police  are  now  guarding  the  park  and  the  approaches  to 
the  lord  lieutenant's  residence.  Tins  reminds  one  of 
watching  the  stable  after  the  horse,  is  stolen.  At  the  ex- 
treme west  end  of  the  park  is  l he  residence  of  the  secre- 
tary and  his  assistant.  You  may  rest  assured  that  we 
did  not  neglect  to  thank  our  fair  friends  tor  the  informa- 
tion they  had  so  kindly  given  us.  They  also  gave  us 
many  other  useful  hints  as  to  the  places  we  ought  to  see 
and  when  and  how  to  see  them. 

Leaving  Phoenix  Park,  our  limhs  are  beginning  to 
ache  from  some  cause  or  other,  so  we  engage  a  seat  on 
the  top  of  a  passing  tram  car  and  are  soon  speeding 
along  by  the  side  of  the  Lifley  obtaining  a  fine  view  of 
the  numerous  bridges  that  connect  the  south  portion  of 
the  city  with  the  north,  for  the  river  courses  through  the 
center  of  the  town.  Oar  next  move  is  in  the  direction 
of  (dassuevin  cemetery  and  the  botanical  gardens.  A 
short  distance  from  the  entrance  to  the  cemetery  is  the 
O'Connell  monument,  a  plain  shaft,  but  the  top  is  al- 
most lost  in  the  dizzy  height.  The  simple  word  "O'Con- 
nell" neatly  cut  on  the  base  is  the  only  inscription.  A 
llight  of  Steps  leads  down  10  the  tomb.  Here  the  locked 
gate  haired  our  way,  but  we  finally  prevailed  on  the 
keeper  to  open  it  for  us,  even  although  it  was  a  little  in- 
fringement on  his  rules.  Here  is  a  complete  circle  with 
a  series  of  vaults  on  eilherside.  In  the  center  is  another 
gate;  inside  this  is  the  resting  place  of  the  great  orator. 
We  entered  herewith  a  feeling  of  awe.  There  is  the 
coffiu  resting  on  a  raised  marble  tablet  enclosed  by  a 
strong  iron  railing.  The  space  between  the  bars 
was  sufficient  to  admit  of  our  reaching  through   and 


To  Europe  and  Back.  53 

placing  our  hand  on  the  polished  o:\k  casket  which  con- 
tained the  mouldering  ashes  of  Ireland's  greatest  states- 
man and  liberator.    This  tomh  and  the  adjoiuins  vaults 

have  been  opened  during  the  last  lew  years.  The  old 
site  is  some  distance  northward  near  the  center  of  the 
grounds  There  must  be  at  least  nearly  a  coup'e  of 
hundred  acres  in  this  city  of  the  dead,  and  as  in  every 
country  we  have  visited,  the  system  of  leveling  the 
ground  prevails;  no  mound  to  mark  the  last  resting 
place  of  a  departed  friend.  The  met  boil  appeared  odi- 
ous to  us.  but  no  doubt  it  must  be  a  great  saving  of  labor. 
A  very  neat  chapel  is  located  near  the  entrance  ;  and  ave- 
nues of  beautiful  Irish  yews,  tall  and  arching  at  the  top 
over  the  neatly  kept  paths. 

About  bait' a  mile  eastward  of  this  the  botanical  gar- 
dens are  located;  very  extensive  grounds  and  we  sup- 
pose  every  species  of  plants  known  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  are  represented,  and  many  fine  specimens  are 
to  be  seen  in  and  out  of  doors.  We  had  foolishly  formed 
the  idea  that  we  knew  something  about  flowers,  plants 
and  trees,  but  arter  looking  over  this  grand  display  con- 
clude in  a  rather  crestfallen  sort  of  spirit  tb  it  our  Un  >wl- 
edge  was  hut  very  Rupertici.il-  However,  it.  does  one 
good  sometimes  to  hive  their  ignorance  shown  up,  and 
we  iiope  the  experience  may  prove  beneficial  to  us  some 
day.  In  strolling  through  the  suburb-  of  the  city  we 
met  with  some  very  curious  people.  The  most  of  the 
country  produce  is*  brought  t>  market  in  small  carls 
drawn' by  donkeys.  Most  of  these  hardy  animals  are 
very  diminutive.  Seeing  dozens  of  them  driving  along 
the  turnpike  is  a  very  amusing  sight  to  a  stranger.  Of 
course,  we  felt  at  home  and  therefore  at  liberty  to  ex- 
change a  j>ke  with  some  of  them.  One  very  small 
donkey  dragging  quite  a  good  sized  load  of  peat  for  fuel, 
took  our  attention.  Seated  on  the  top  of  the  load  was 
an  extremely  corpulent  lady,  would  certainly  weigh  at 
the  lowest  calculation  three  inn  idled  pounds,  avordupois. 
In  her  hand  :die  held  an  ominous  sprig  of  shillalah. 
The  picture  did  look  too  funny  and  we  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  of  accosting  her.  "Poor  fellow,"  wesaid 
rather  sympathetically,  "he  is  too  small  for  such  a 
heavy  burden,"  at  the' same  lime  looking  rather  archly 
at  the  fat  lady.  Her  answer  was  ready,  '•  Arrah  cushla, 
and  its  lazy  lie  is,  the  blackguard,"  and  commenced  a 


54  TV  Europe  and  Bach. 

terrible  onslausht  on  the  small  creature.  Of  course,  we 
were  sorry  that  the  poor  little  donkey  should  get  such  a 
severe  drubbing  through  our  interference,  and  tlvs  was 
another  telling  hint  to  us  not  to  meddle  in  others'  fam- 
ily affairs.  However,  we  left  the  lady  in  very  good 
humor  with  l  he  kind  words  mi  her  lips.  "  Arrab  niesha, 
gooil  luck  to  you,  me  darlint." 

Here  the  people  generally  speak  the  most  charming 
style  of  English  it  has  ever  been  our  good  fortune  to 
hear.  Their  pronunciation  is  perfect  and  the  voice  has 
a  sweet  musical  tone  about  it  that, commands  attention^ 
indeed  we  loved  to  hear  the  beautiful  dark-eyed  colleens 
rolling  forth  this  beautiful  style  of  English. 

Taking  the  train  southward,  you  pass  through  a 
love'y  country,  thrift  and  industry  are  to  be  seen  at 
nearly  every  homestead,  but  like  our  own  country  at 
home,  there  are  numbers  of  idlers  and  agitators  whose 
only  method  of  earning  a  living  is  by  agitating  some 
question  in  which  the  farmer  has  a  slight  grievance, 
and  this  is  one  of  tiie  greatest  evils  which  affects  the 
isle  <>f  Erin.  The  industrious,  law-abiding  citizen  is 
just  as  much  opposed  to  this  state  of  agitation,  crime 
ami  murder  as  any  loyal  citizen  of  the  United  .States. 
On  through  the  county  Kerry  the  farms  are  well  culti- 
vated. In  this  direction  we  soon  reach  Tipperary.  This 
district  is  of  a  somewhat  boggy  nature,  the  farms 
not  so  extensive  and  the  cabins  much  smaller,  but  even 
here  l hen-  is  happiness,  lor  we  can  hear  t lie  sweet, 
plaintive  me'ody,  "  Kathleen  Mavourneen,"  then  a 
more  lively  air  from  Aileeu  as  she  stands  at  the  door  of 
her  father's  humble  cabin.  Oh,  could  you  love  a  fair 
Irish  girl  whose  heart  is  as  light  as  a  fairy.  Oh,  could 
you  love  a  nice  Irish  girl  from  the  county  of  sweet  Tip- 
perary. It  warmed  our  heart  to  think  that  there  was 
so  much  happiness  and  rollicking  humor  in  the  country 
districts.  The  town  of  Tipperary  is  quite  large  and  a 
very  pretty  place;  indeed,  we  loved  to  linger  there, 
hut  the  return  part  of  our  ticket  is  pointing  us  to  Edin- 
burgh at  an  early  date.  A  little  to  the  west  of  this  is 
Kilkenny,  with  a  line  old  castle  near  by.  A  celebrated 
breed  of  cats  is  raised  in  this  section.  How  profitable 
the  business  may  he  we  are  unable  to  say.  We  have 
not.  time  to  get.  so  far  as  the  famous  lakes  of  Killarney, 
so  will  leave  them  and  the  Blarney  Stone  for  our  next 


To  Europe  and  Back.  55 

visit.  One  hundred  and  twenty  miles  north  of  Dublin 
is  the  fine  city  of  Belfast.  The  people  and  the  landscape 
here  have  pretty  much  a  Scottish  appearance,  hut  we 
must  hurry,  for  it  is  Hearing  harvest  and  we  must  spend 
a  few  days  among  the  blooming  heather  on  the  Gram- 
pian hills. 


LETTER  NO,  10, 


ON  THE  GRAMPIAN  HILLS. 


About  the  lust  week  in  August  is  the  proper  time  to 
visit  this  historic-  range  of  mountains,  for  then  you  can  he- 
hold  the  splendor  and  the  magnificent  glories  of  a  high- 
land landscape.  The  atmosphere  is  pleasantly  cool  and 
bracing.  The  whole  aspect  of  the  country  lias  assumed 
a  beautiful  pinkish  hue  for  the  heather  is  now  in  full 
flower  and  its  fragrance  pervades  the  hilltops,  the  rug- 
ged slopes  and  the  valleys  below.  In  appearance  this 
hardy  little  plant  is  a  dwarfish,  bushy  shrub  from  ten 
to  eighteen  inches  in  height,  the  leaves  fine  and  have 
a  good  deal  of  resemblance  to  some  of  the  varieties  of 
yews.  The  delicate  pink  flowers  are  borne  in  racemis, 
presenting  a  very  pleasant  and  striking  appearance. 
This  is  the  hardiest  of  the  Erica  family,  growing  and 
luxuriating  in  the  most  sterile  mountain  districts,  hut  it 
most  a bd( >l utely  refuses  to  i>e  transferred  to  another  lo- 
cation ;  indeed,  this  heautiful  species  will  not  thrive  un- 
der cultivation,  and  is,  therefore  entirely  indigenous  to 
those  barrel)  mountain  slopes.  The  soil  in  which  it 
finds  a  congenial  home  is  one  of  hlackish  turfy  nature, 
and  large  tracts  are  dug  up,  or  rather  skinned  every  year, 
for  the  fibrous  roots  of  the  plant  and  die  turfy  soil  burns 
nicely  giving  out  a  strong  cheerful  glow,  the  red  ashes 
retaining  the  heat  for  a  considerable  length  of  time. 
The  mountain  cottages  depend  largely  on  this  for  pro- 
tection from  the  cold  dining  the  long  snowy  winter 
months. 

In  this  section  of  the  country,  although  you  are  stand- 
ing on  a  highly  elevated  platform,  luing  many  feet 
above  s<ja  level,  you  fail  to  discover  a  solitary  tree  as  far 
as  your  eye  can  reach,  and  you  can  see  a  long  distance 
if  the  day  he  clear.  The  most  conspicolls  portion  of 
this  long  chain  is  mount  Hat  lock,  its  summit  bordering 
on  three  counties,   Aberdeen,   Kincardine   and    Forfar. 


To  Europe  and  Baca.  57 

A  magnificent  view  is  obtained  at  this  spot,  and  you 
are  completely  hemmed  in  by  mountains.  Away  at 
tilt'  base  in  the  valley  below  the  picture  is  curious  and 
grotesque  A  bluish  smoke  is  seen  slowly  oozing  and 
curling  upwards  from  a  sideling,  almost  hidden  in  the 
deep  recess  of  some  ravine.  A  crystal  streamlet  is 
wimpling  in  many  roundings  and  turnings  through  the 
sombre  green  valley.  Here  and  there  are  small  patches 
of  cultivated  laud,  while  scattered  through  the  glen  are 
numerous  sheep  folds  used  in  securing  the  flocks  at 
shearing  time,  for  ibis  is  really  a  pastoral  district,  the 
flocks  being  numbered  by  thousands  and  pastures  miles 
instead  of  acres.  Many  shepherds,  accompanied  by  their 
trusty  canine  friends,  are  to  be  seen  lazily  seated  on 
some  sunny  knoll  watching  their  fleecy  charge  dotted 
so  thickly  over  the  mountain  side.  We  wonder  if  any 
of  these  Grampian  shepherds  are  the  father  of  young 
Norval,  who  is  said  to  have  fed  his  flocks  in  this  re- 
gion, exercising  the  most  rigid  frugality,  also  taking  the 
greatest  care  10  keep  his  boy  Norval  at  home,  but  like 
many  other  parents  who  have  wise  plans  and 
purposes  laid  out  for  their  children,  old  Mr.  Nerval  had 
the  mortification  of  seeing  Ids  wayward  boy,  an  only 
son,  follow  a  fierce,  warlike  chief  to  the  field  to  seek  that 
bubble  reputation  at  the  cannon's  mouth. 

Thinking  of  these  old  stories,  the  feeling  of  quietude 
becomes  almost  unbearable.  What  a  strange  stillness  to 
one  not  used  to  such  scenes!  Scarcely  a  sound  is  heard 
save  the  bleating  of  the  herds  and  the  faint  murmuring 
of  some  distant  streamlet  hurrying  and  rushing  down 
the  rugged  steeps  to  join  the  larger  stream  in  the  valley 
below.  Sometimes,  though,  this  peaceful  monotony  is 
broken  by  some  solitary  shepherd  attempting  to  amuse 
himself  aiid  beguile  the  passing  hour  by  practicing  on  the 
bagpipes.  The  melody  is  very  pleasing  ;  indeed,  tins  is 
the  only  place  in  which  this  class  of  music  is  endurable. 
It  is  sweet  and  soul-stirring  to  hear  the  pibroch  sound- 
ing deep  over  the  mountain  and  glen. 

Looking  southward  from  this  elevated  spot,  a  beauti- 
ful view  of  the  valley  of  Locblee  is  obtained  with  a 
small  lake  at  the  head  of  the  glen.  A  church,  a  few 
1  batched  cottages  and  several  small  farm  houses  and 
shielings,  are  located  in  this  curious  cavity  among  the 
mountains,  but  although  it  is  very  pleasaut  in  this  re- 


$8  To  Europe  and  Back. 

gion  during  the  summer,  and  we  behold  nature  in  its 
wildest  grandeur  and  the  scenery  all  that  could  be  de- 
sired, yet  a  stranger  would  not  relish  passing  a  winter 
among  them,  for  the  snowfall  is  extremely  lengthy  and 
very  heavy,  very  often  lasting  for  months.  We  had  the 
courage  to  hint  to  one  of  the  parishioners  that  it  must 
be  a  very  difficult  task  getting  to  the  sanctuary  on  Sun- 
day to  hear  the  word  expounded  during  these  violent 
and  protracted  snow  storms  and  drifts  which  this  region 
is  so  often  subjected  to  during  the  winter  months.  To 
our  astonishment,  a  peculiar  smile  gathered  on  his  usu- 
ally sober  serious,  face  as  he  answered  our  remarks. 
He  very  soon  let  us  know  that  it  was  a  good  deal  more 
pleasant  to  attend  church  in  the  winter  than  during  the 
long  summer  days.  This  seemed  rather  funny,  so  we 
were  obliged  to  call  for  an  explanation,  which  was 
given  as  follows  :  "  You  see,  there  are  some  advantages 
in  attending  chinch  services  in  the  depth  of  winter  that 
are  never  thought  of  during  the  summer,  a  real  spirit- 
ual advantage."  "  How  can  that  be,"  we  inquired. 
"  Well,"  he  continued  with  the  same  broad  grin  of 
pleasure  on  his  face,  "  winter  a  year  ago  was  a  very  se- 
vere one  hereabouts,  the  snow  much  deeper  and  lasted 
longer  than  any  I  had  ever  seen  before  and  I  am  a 
pretty  old  man  ;  have  seen  nearly  three  score  and  ten  of 
them,  and  the  drifts  were  something  extraordinary. 
It  smothered  entire  herds  of  sheep  in  yonder  hollow 
away  up  the  glen.  Why,  sir,  you  have  nothing  to  equal 
it  in  North  America,  you  hav'nt."  "  Well,"  was  re- 
plied, "  that  may  be  so  ;  but  what  has  this  terrible  snow 
storm  got  to  do  with  making  it  a  pleasure  in  attending 
divine  service  during  the  winter  in  access  of  summer." 
"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  was  just  about  reaching  that  point 
when  you  interrupted  me.  This  pleasant  business  be- 
gan one  very  stormy  Sunday  and  the  snow  was  fearful 
deep,  reaching  most  to  our  knees.  Only  six  of  us  made 
our  way  ami  reached  the  kirk.  The  beadle  had  exca- 
vated a  way  to  the  door  and  built  a  fire,  hut  the  place 
was  awfully  cold  ;  no  seraphic  tire  in  the  building  that 
day.  Of  course,  Sandy  McNabb,  the  minister's  man 
and  beadle  informed  his  master  as  to  the  extent  and  con- 
dition of  his  congregation,  whereupon  he  determined 
on  seeing  us  at  the  parsonage,  so  much  more  pleasant 
there  he  thought,  of  course  lor  him  ;  he  did  not  have  to 


To  Europe  and  Baca.  59 

tnckle  the  deep  snow.  Ah,  preachers  are  far-seeing  and 
know  a  great  deal,  and  sometimes  we  fancy  tbink  on 
topics  that  are  nearly  the  reverse  of  sacred.  As  he  sur- 
mised it  was  decidedly  pleasant.  Sandy,  with  a  bow, 
ushered  Duncan  McTavish,  myself  and  the  other  four 
into  the  best  room,  where  the  parson  was  sitting  toast- 
ing his  feet  at  a  checful  peat  fire.  "My  friends,"  he  be- 
gan in  solemn  tones,  "be  seated.  Your  piety  is  certainly 
deserving  of  reward,  coming  out  on  sucb  a  day,  and  re- 
ally your  presence  was  not  expected  this  sabbath  day, 
consequently  no  sermon  has  been  prepared  ."  So,  as  he 
could  not  warm  our  hearts  with  a  spiritual  lesson,  he 
would  endeavor  to  instil  warmth  into  our  physical  na- 
ture by  infusing  into  us  a  flowing  dram  of  real  old 
mountain  whisky,  and  he  assured  us  that  it  would  do  us 
more  good  on  sucb  a  day  than  twenty  sermons,  and  he 
was  right,  for  we  started  home  with  merry  hearts  re 
joicing.  We  kept  it  up  every  Sunday  as  long  as  the 
snowy  weather  continued  which  was  several  months, 
and  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  whole  party  were 
sorry  when  the  warm  sun  dispelled  the  snow,  the  min- 
ister included."  We  could  not  help  laughing  at  tfcke 
aged  mountaineer's  earnestness.  "Last  winter,"  he  re- 
marked, "  was  a  complete  failure,  for  the  weather  was 
open  the  entire  season,  consequently  no  pleasant  par- 
sonage meetings."  The  idea  was  an  entirely  new  one 
to  us,  but  on  the  whole  a  good  one  and  a  commendable 
plan  on  the  part  of  the  parson,  and  we  could  not  help 
thinking  that  our  ministerial  friends  at  home  would  do 
well  in  imitating  this  Scotch  divine  a  little,  if  it  did  not 
come  up  to  their  proper  standard  of  piety.  Such  a 
course  would  most  certainly  insure  a  full  attendance  no 
matter  how  inclement  the  weather  might  be,  and  no 
doubt  the  contribution  box  would  profit  by  it  also. 

Leaving  our  loquacious  friend  in  bright  anticipations 
of  the  coming  winter,  our  eyes  scan  the  western  horizon. 
What  a  protracted  chain,  Gleuisla,  Clova  and  many 
other  beautiful  glens  and  valleys,  where  the  blood  of 
mauy  a  gallant  chief  has  stained  the  heather.  At  the 
western  extremity  of  this  chain  is  the  spot  where  the 
witches  met  the  great  Macbeth  and  barred  his  way  with 
such  prophetic  greeting,  really  a  weird  and  fanciful  spot ; 
just  in  keepiug  with  the  dark  tragedy  enacted.  East- 
ward is  the  famous  Stone  of  Cloknabane,  an  immense 


60  To  Europe  and  Bark. 

natural  structure  of  rock  leaning  at  an  angle  of  forty-five 
degrees  towards  the  south,  and  a  stranger  is  very  apt  to 
conclude  that  its  overturn  is  certain,  but  there  it  re- 
mains a  curious  .object  fur  visitors.  Southward  and  we 
come  to  another  lower  range. 

Among  these  the  famous  hill  of  Wirren  is  the  most 
conspicuous  and  by  far  the  prettiest  of  the  series.  Sev- 
eral kinds  of  fruits  are  found  growing  here  in  abundance, 
blue  huckleberries  and  aiiverns  being  the  best  and  most 
plentiful,  the  former  very  large  and  palatable,  the  lat- 
ter in  much  the  style  and  shape  of  the  wild  strawberry, 
but  it  has  a  very  bitter  acrid  flavor.  Abundance  of 
pure  water  is  found  bubbling  up  in  many  places  along 
the  mountain  side.  A  luxuriant  growth  of  water 
cresses  covers  the  cool  limpid  stream  as  it  meanders 
down  the  hill.  Drinking  from  these  crystal  fountains 
and  partaking  of  the  crisp,  pungent  cress  is  certainly 
very  pleasant  and  refreshing.  Game  of  a  certain  class 
is  here  found  in  abundance,  hares  and  grouse.  The 
first  is  rather  an  interesting  animal,  in  appearance  is 
much  the  shape  and  form  of  our  rabbit,  hut  much  lar- 
ger. Its  peculiarity  lies  in  the  changeahleness  of  its 
color.  During  the  summer  it  presents  a  bluish  gray,  to- 
wards fall  the  hue  is  much  lighter  and  by  Christmas  its 
fur  assumes  a  beautiful  snow-white  appearance,  and 
'his  is  the  proper  season  for  hunting  The  other  species 
is  a  very  pretty  bird  about  three  times  the  size  of  our 
partridge  or  quail.  The  color  is  a  glossy  blackish  brown, 
habit  much  the  same  as  the  quail.  The  season  for 
huntiug  commences  on  the  12lh  of  August,  and  we  can 
already  hear  the  sharp  crack  01  the- sportsman's  fowling 
piece. 

On  a  short  distance  further  south  is  yet  a  still  lower 
range  of  hills.  The  principal  of  these  aie  the  Cattcr- 
thun's,  three  in  number,  the  white,  brown  and  gray. 
Warlike  bands  several  centuries  ago  occupied  these  low 
hills  as  a  battle-ground.  It  was  supposed  to  be  a  law- 
less marauding  band  cal  ed  the  Caterings,  but  the  his- 
tory is  far  from  being  authentic,  but  the  appearance  of 
the  place  certainly  indicates  that  large  bodies  of  men 
hail  encamped  then- someday.  The  White  Cater  is  the 
most  notable  of  the  three,  and  many  pleasure  seekers 
frequent  it  during  the  summer  months.  The  south  side 
is  thickly  covered  with  larch  timber,  the  trees  near  the 


To  Europe  and  Baca.  6 1 

summit  being  rather  dwarfish  and  stunted.  In  the 
center  of  the  rounded  top  is  a  curious  cavity,  the  huge 
walls  of  rough  loose  boulders  rising  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  above  it.  There  are  several  acres  in  this  hollowed 
circle,  all  naturally  set  in  grass,  very  soft  and  pleasant 
to  walk  upon.  We  understand  it  has  become  a  celebra- 
ted place  for  holding  picnics.  The  Brown  is  about  a 
mile  east  of  the  White  and  is  covered  with  a  luxuriant 
crop  of  heather,  furze  and  broom.  We  spent  several 
very  pleasant  days  on  these  two  hills  with  very  kind 
and  agreeable  companions.  We  even  had  the  pleasure 
ofmeetingthe"lassofGowrie."  Such  running  and  leap- 
ing and  rolling  and  turning,  but  our  limbs  did  ache  by 
eventide. 

After  this  comes  the  lowlands  with  rich  farms  and 
beautiful  fields  teeming  with  wavy  yellow  grain  ready 
for  harvest,  and  from  all  quarters  the  song  of  the  reap- 
ers are  heard,  and  above  all  other  noise  and  tumult  the 
familiar  whir  of  the  American  reaper  falls  upon  our  ear, 
for  no  farm  be  it  ever  so  small  is  considered  complete 
without  it  has  one  or  more  of  these  machines.  The  peo- 
ple are  not  tortured  with  jealousy  because  we  have 
fairly  eclipsed  and  superceded  them  in  the  manufacture 
of  agricultural  implements;  on  the  contrary  they  are 
proud  to  think  that  they  are  capable  of  working  an  ar- 
ticle of  American  production  and  willingly  give  us 
credit  for  having  that  ingenuity  which  has  made  the 
American  nation  famous  all  the  world  over.  The 
country  here  is  well  adapted  for  the  use  of  these  grand 
Champion  reapers  so  popular  in  the  United  States,  the 
fields  being  very  smooth,  no  stumps  to  drive  around,  no 
ugly  pieces  of  rock  projecting  to  cause  mishap  or  break- 
age, consequently  they  can  beset  to  cut  very  close  to  the 
ground.  The  crops  are  also  much  thicker  and  finer  in 
the  straw  than  is  generally  seen  on  our  farms  in  Ken- 
tucky. The  laborers  complain  a  little  that  it  is  much 
harder  work  following  these  reapers  than  the  scythe  and 
sickle.  They  say  there  is  no  chance  for  them  to  raise 
their  head  at  all ;  but  no  doubt  this  will  be  remedied  to 
a  certain  extent  in  a  few  years,  for  some  of  the  most 
wealthy  farmers  have  already  introduced  the  new  twine 
binder,  but  they  do  not  seem  to  comprehend  this  com- 
plicated machine;  indeed,  itrequires  a  person  possessed 
of  considerable  mechanical  ingenuity  to  fully  under- 
stand these  great  labor-saving  institutions. 


62  To   i.u  oj  :    and  Back. 

As  we  wandered  about  among  the  merry  harvesters, 
we  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  grand  held  of  oper- 
ation this  would  be  for  our  esteemed  friend,  Edward 
Myall.  How  beautifully  could  he  describe  these  self- 
binders  and  how  grandly  and  minutely  could  he  instruct 
them  in  the  mysteries  of  working  them.  We  are  satis- 
fied that  hfe  would  either  explain  and  convince,  or  assist 
these  industrious  Scottish  farmers  to  their  last  resting 
place.  It  would  have  given  us  much  pleasure  to  have 
Uad  our  friend  with  us  in  these  sweet  harvest  scenes. 

Time  is  passing  and  the  mornings  and  evenings  are 
becoming  slightly  cool  and  unpleasant,  and  we  are  be- 
ginning to  look  with  a  longing  eye  homeward,  having 
seen  a  good  deal  of  our  native  land,  and  though  our 
home  no  more,  yet  very  dear  to  us,  its  history  and  its 
associations  swell  our  heart  almost  to  overflowing. 
There  is  a  strange  feeling  of  joy  and  sadness  comes  over 
us  as  the  day  is  set  for  our  return  ;  joy  on  the  one  hand 
that  if  all  went  well  with  us,  we  would  soon  again  be- 
hold the  beautiful  stars  and  stripes  floating  proudly  in 
the  breeze  and  waving  above  our  head  protectingly  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  how  sad  to  leave  every  kindred  tie  we 
had  on  earth,  and  many  dear  little  ones  unwilling  to 
bid  us  good  bye.  A  sweet  little  two  year  old  girl  even 
volunteered  to  go  with  us;  bless  her  dear  little  heart, 
we  never  can  forget  her.  It  is  now  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember and  we  will  soon  be  on  our  way  to  Glasgow, 
homeward  bound. 


LETTER  NO,  11, 


HOMEWARD  BOUND. 


There  are  naturally  more  exciting  scenes  at  the  depart- 
ure of  a  steamship  from  a  European  port  than  a  vessel 
leaving  the  American  side,  for  in  the  latter  case  most  of 
the  passengers  are  in  expectancy  of  a  speedy  return  to 
the  shores  of  freedom,  while  in  the  former  nearly  all 
are  leaving  their  native  land  perhaps  forever.  Friday. 
September  loth,  finds  us  once  more  in  Glasgow,  joining 
with  and  helping  to  swell  the  busy  throng. 

At  Mavis  Bank  Key  lies  the  steamship  State  of  In- 
diana. Towards  this  our  steps  are  directed,  for  we  have 
resolved  to  take  passage  in  her  even  though  she  did  sail 
on  Friday,  that  terrible  unlucky  day.  However,  they 
say  we  were  born  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  week,  so  it 
can  make  no  difference,  for  according  to  superstitious 
ideas,  it  cannot  change  our  fate.  We  are  compelled  to 
draw  a  veil  over  our  own  departure,  and  become  inter- 
ested in  what  is  taking  place  around  us.  All  passengers 
are  aboard,  and  at  1:20  p.  m.  the  moorings  are  loosened, 
and  the  vessel  drops  slowly  from  the  pier.  The  number 
of  onlookees  is  something  extraordinary.  Some  are 
there  through  curiosity,  others  are  bidding  good-bye  to 
friends  and  loved  ones,  and  many  perhaps  have  said  a 
last  farewell,  for  we  notice  many  standing  on  the  pier 
H-ith  hearts  bowed  down  in  sadness,  the  tears  of  honest 
affection  coursing  down  many  a  furrowed  cheek,  and 
youthful  eyes  are  also  filled  with  moisture ;  no  doubt 
there  are  parents,  brothers  and  sisters,  and  there  may 
be  sweethearts  seeing  loved  ones  off  for  the  glorious  land 
of  their  adoption,  the  "home  of  the  brave  and  the 
free." 

What  a  funny  motley  spectacle  the  fine  steamer  pre- 
sents as  she  drifts  down'  the  Clyde,  people  of  every  grade 
and  temperament.  What  a  promiscuous  assortment 
of  trunks  and  boxes,  from  the  finest  traveling  outfit  to 


64  To  Europe  ana  Back. 

the  old-fashioned  skin  covered  trunk  that  had  been 
handed  down  from  generation  to  generation  perhaps  for 
centuries;  hundreds  of  strange  looking  bundles  appar- 
ently containing  more  weight  of  twine  in  wrapping  than 
the  contents  of  the  package.  What  a  number  of  curious 
tin  boxes,  hand  satchels  and  portmoniaes.  Here  we  no- 
tice that  the  tin  box  is  an  indespensible  article  in  a  lady's 
outfit.  True,  we'  are  unable  to  say  knowingly  what  it 
contains,  but  have  our  suspicions  that  it  must  be  hats 
or  bonnets  of  the  latest  fashion,  no  doubt.  Tbere  are  no 
ringing  cheers  to  encourage  us  over  the  pathless  deep, 
for  there  were  too  many  sad  hearts  to  admit  of  any  show 
of  merry  making.  Perhaps  with  a  sigh  those  on  shore 
turn  away  after  a  long  look  at  the  gallant  ship  fast  dis- 
appearing in  the  distance. 

As  the  shades  of  evening  deepen,  amidst  a  thick  driz- 
zling rain,  we,  along  with  many  others,  watch  the  reced- 
ing shores  of  the  Mull  of  Cantyre  on  the  one  side  and 
the  beautiful  Ayrshire  coast  on  the  other.  Morning 
finds  us  once  more  embracing  the  coast  of  Erin,  and 
touch  the  pier  at  the  quaint  little  town  of  Larne.  twenty 
miles  north  of  Belfast.  Here  we  are  detained  for  fifteen 
hours  until  the  cargo  of  freight  and  the  passenger  list 
are  completed.  The  day  being  fine  it  gave  a  good  op- 
portunity of  enjoyment  on  shore  Abundance  of  jaunt- 
ing cars  are  ready  for  hire  to  take  you  through  all  the 
pleasant  drives  about  the  place,  and  really  there  is  a 
good  deal  to  be  seen.  The  long  stretch  of  beautiful, 
snowy,  pebbly  beach  is  perfectly  charming.  We  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  gathering  some  relics  on 
the  shore,  for  they  looked  so  pretty.  This  place  used  to 
be  the  largest  and  finest  lime  producing  district  in  the 
country,  many  crafts  being  engaged  in  conveying  it  to 
the  different  ports;  but  of  late  years  the  introduction  of 
railroads  has  changed  the  commerce  to  other  places 
leaving  old  Larne  only  doing  a  small  business  in  tins 
industry.  The  State  Line  Steamship  Company  has 
made  it  a  place  of  considerable  importance  by  making 
it  a  stopping  point  for  their  steamers  out  and  in.  ■ 

At  midnight,  after  having  spent  a  very  pleasant  day, 
all  is  readiness  for  sea,  and  we  are  soon  standing  out  to- 
wards the  ocean.  We  fe't  a  little  uneasy,  for  it  was  a 
noticeable  fact  that  the  ship's  crew  had  been  spending 
the  day  rather  gloriously,  imbibing  too  freely  of  the  cel- 
ebrated Irish  poteen,  and  we  were  also  aware  that  the 


To  Europe  and  Back.  65 

coast  was  a  dangerous  one,  requiring  skill  and  sobriety 
to  navigate  safely  through  among  those  treacherous  hid- 
den rocks,  but  the  approach  of  daylight  dispelled  our 
fears,  for  nearly  all  landmarks  had  disappeared  and  the 
motion  of  the  vessel  indicated  that  she  was  getting  into 
the  swell  of  the  Atlantic  and  deep  water.  Large  waves 
were  breaking  over  the  deck  both  fore  and  aft.  The 
sumptous  breakast  table  is  all  but  deserted,  and  the  sav- 
ory victuals  are  left  untouched.  Out  of  the  eighty  per- 
sons belonging  to  our  tables  only  six  of  us  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance. Heads  ache,  hearts  are  sad,  and  stomachs  in 
a  very  unsettled  condition.  Our  fair  companions  suf- 
fered severely  ;  indeed,  the  condition  of  many  of  them 
was  most  wretched,  and  were  this  to  be  called  the  most 
miserable  of  days  it  would  be  a  very  fitting  term,  and 
we  have  no  doubt  had  our  passengers  been  placed  on 
terra  firma  at  this  moment,  ninety-nine  per  cent,  of 
them  would  have  preferred  remaining  there. 

Although  it  was  Sunday,  no  church  bells  are  ringing 
inviting  us  to  worship,  not  because  of  any  lack  of  minis- 
ters, tor  there  were  eight  or  ten  of  different  denomina- 
tions on  board,  but  they,  too,  felt  that  mother  ocean 
was  more  than  a  match  for  their  physical  constitution, 
and  therefore  unable  to  hold  meetings  and  preach  the 
word.  We  were  not  to  say  alarmed  to  find  so  many 
clergy  among  us,  but  our  astonishment  knew  no  bounds. 
What  on  earth  could  be  inducing  them  to  try  their  for- 
tunes in  America  ?  The  gentlemen  were  certainly 
making  a  mistake,  for  we  were  fully  satisfied  there  were 
but  few  openings  in  the  religious  profession  in  that 
country  and  always  plenty  of  home  talent  to  fill  the 
ranks  as  the  aged  veterans  step  off  the  stage  of  life. 
However,  there  they  were  from  the  street  evangelist  to 
the  most  Puritanic  Presbyterian,  We  never  did  ascer- 
tain what  part  of  the  country  they  were  bound  for  or  re- 
ally what  they  proposed  doing,  but  we  could  not  help 
thinking  to  ourself  that  they  were  making  pretty  much  a 
wild  goose  chase  of  it, 

During  the  afternoon  a  slight  mishap  occurred.  The 
hatches  away  forward  had  been  opened  to  admit  of 
ventilation  for  the  steerage  apartments,  when  a  heavy 
wave  broke  over  the  bow  and  rushed  down  the  open 
hatchways  entirely  deluging  the  rooms  below  and  par- 
tially submerging  and  scaring  the  occupants.     However, 


06  To  Jiurofe  and  Bach. 

no  serious  damage  was  dune  save  making  it  very  mi 
pleasant  for  a  short  time.    On  the  whole  the   merry 
party    of   the    night   before    have    all    hut    disappeared. 

Strong  men  in  tlie  hill  vigor  of  manhood  are  stricken 
down,  eyes  east  down  and  faces  pale  and  haggard.  The 
sweetest  of  feminine  loveliness  is  completely  prostrated, 
and  moans  of  deepest  anguish  are  escaping  from  the 
pale  lips  of  those  so  brilliant  and  entertaining  the  eve- 
ning before.  The  soft  couches  in  the  saloon  are  not 
more  exempt  from  sickness  than  those  huddled  together 
on  the  hard,  filthy  hoards  of  the  steerage, 

At  10  p.  m  the  sea  is  much  the  same,  wind  fresh 
from  northwest.  Put  out  the  main  sail  to  help  steady 
the  vessel  a  little.  Next  morniue,  the  third  day  out, 
the  weather,  wind  and  water,  exhibit  no  changes.  We 
cannot  begin  to  do  justice  in  describing  the  picture,  can 
only  leave  it  to  imagination.  About  live  hundred  peo- 
ple congregated  on  the  wet,  slippery  deck  of  a  ship  at  sea 
only  partially  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  two  first 
nights  rolling  and  tossing  on  the  briny  deep,  rocked  in 
the  cradle  of  perpetual  motion  Meet  the  steamship 
Anchorii,  of  the  Anchor  line,  bound  for  the  Clyde. 
All  well.  Fourth  day  the  weather  is  more  pleasant, 
p  issengers  feeling  better  and  hopes  becoming  brighter; 
indeed,  we  can  detect  a  faint  smile  on  the  faces  of  some 
of  our  fair  companions.  This  was  a  sure  indication  that 
the  worst  was  over.  A  very  fine  horse  through  the 
lurching  and  tossing  of  the  steamer,  gets  broke  down 
and  dies.  The  carcass  is  soon  hoisted  by  steam  power 
and  dropped  over  from  the  fort  castle,  food  for  the  sharks 
and  large  fishes.  We  could  not  help  thinking  as  the 
fine  animal  drifted  astern  how  soon  some  of  our  human 
family  might  share  the  same  fate,  a  sailor's  burial, 
dropped  into  the  mighty  deep  with  a  stamn's  cloak 
around  them.  Night  comes  again,  throwing  its  sable 
mantle  over  the  deep.  The  sea  is  comparatively 
smooth.  Shifting  breeze  from  north  to  south,  not  filling 
the  sail  on  the  foreyards;  the  main  staysiailsare  furled, 
and  all  retire  early,  hopeful  of  securing  a  pleasant 
night's  rest,  which  the  steady  motion  of  the  vessel 
promised. 

Fifth  day.  How  the  many  hearts  on  board  bounded 
with  delight  on  opening  their  eyes.  After  a  night  of 
comfortable    repose,   the  once    turbulent    waters    now 


To  Europe  and  Back.  67 

smooth  and  calm,  not  a  ripple  on  its  surface,  like  a  pol- 
ished mirror  glistening  and  sparkling-  in  the  sunlight, 
the  tine  vessel  gliding  swiftly  making  twelve  knots  ati 
hour.  Most  of  our  fellow  passengers  are  on  deck  seem- 
ingly happy,  bright  and  cheerful  and  not  without  hope. 
The  ladies'  smiles  are  real  now,  the  fair  cheeks  have  all 
hut  lost  the  ashy  paleness  of  the  previous  days,  and  the 
children  are  romping  about  in  high  glee.  Even  the 
ship  surgeon  is  idly  folding  his  hands  or  at  times  play- 
iug  shuffle  board  with  the  young  folks.  By-the  way, 
this  is  a  very  good  occupation  for  doctors  generally. 
The  wind  veers  round  to  nearly  south  and  the  yards  are 
again  set  rilling  moderaely.  The  dinner  table  is  crowded, 
which  fact  explains  the  condition  of  the  passengers. 
.Some  have  strong  walking  propensities,  very  good 
amusement,  walking  the  plank  without  a  break,  keep- 
ing the  motion  of  the  ship.  Some  of  the  young  ladies 
skip  the  rope  to  perfection.  One  of  the  Alan  line 
steamers  pass  us  to  the  starboard  bound  for  Glasgow. 
Have  divine  service  and  sacred  reading  at  8  p.  m., 
rather  slimly  attended,  many  other  recreations  being  in 
progress  at  "the  time.  Rain  sets  in  with  a  stiff  head 
wind,  and  we  are  once  more  running  under  bare  poles. 

Sixth  day.  Fair  and  bright,  water  smooth  and 
pleasant,  other  features  on  boa'd  much  the  same  as  the 
preceding.  W£  find  veiy  agreeable  companions  in  the 
MacGregor  brothers,  no  doubt  descendants  of  the  an- 
cient clans  from  the  romantic  districts  of  Loch  Lo- 
mond. 

Seventh  day.  Very  little  change  observable.  All  are 
happy  and  hopeful ;  we  suspect,  though,  that  there  are 
some  slight  flirtations  going  on,  but  we  are  far  from 
being  skillful  or  perceptive  in  such  matters  and  may 
be  mistaken. 

Eight  day.  Cool  and  very  foggy,  smooth  water,  large 
shoals  of  porpoises  seen  sporting  in  the  water,  and  two 
large  dolphins  descried  a  mile  to  leeward.  By  noon 
the  haze  clears  away  and  we  have  the  pleasure  of  a 
beautifui  moonlight  night.  Pass  a  Norwegian  bark 
bound  for  Montreal. 

Xmth  day.  Sunday,  very  foggy,  for  we  are  on  the 
banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  the  prevalence  of  the  sea- 
weed indicates  that  our  vessel  is  in  the  gult  stream. 
Three   days  more  of  fair   weather  will  bring  us  to  the 


rr 


68.  To  Europe  and  Bad-. 

port  of  New  York.    Have  divine  service  morning  and 
evening,  and  the  ninth  day  passes  very  quietly. 

Tenth  day.  Still  foggy  and  damp.  Have  an  exhi- 
bition showing  the  dexterity  of  the  crew  in  handling 
the  life  boats  in  case  of  accident.  The  fire  department 
is  also  called  out  to  prove  their  efficiency  in  subduing 
the  flames  in  case  of  fire.  To  us  landsmen  it  was  a 
novel  and  interesting  sight,  but  were  much  better 
pleased  to  have  it  a  sham  performance  than  reality. 
The  lights  of  Cape  Race  are  observed  about  midnight 
many  miles  to  larboard. 

Eleventh  day.  We  are  nearing  land.  At  5  a.  m. 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  comet ;  cannot  say 
whether  we  were  the  discoverer  or  not.  It  had  a  fine  ap- 
pearance with  the  tail  reflected  on  the  smooth  water 
astern  of  us.  The  day  is  fine  and  the  steamer  is  plough- 
ing the  waves  beautifully.  At  noon  we  are  only  three 
hundred  miles  oft  Sandy  Hook.  There  is  a  fair  wind 
and  a  strong,  bowling  sea  on,  and  all  on  board  are 
bright  and  merry  and  as  night  deepens  all  join  in  sing- 
ing "  Auld  Laug  Syne,"  for  it  was  the  last  night  we 
would  be  together.  Even  the  clergymen  lay  aside  their 
solemn  looks  and  smile  in  a  manner  they  had  perhaps 
never  done  before. 

Twelftn  day.  Early  morning  finds  us  within  sight  of 
the  lighthouse  oft  Nantucket,  and  soon  the  shores  of 
Rhode  Island  are  visible,  then  the  coast  of  Manhattan 
with  fine  buildings  discernable  on  ttie  beach.  Pass  the 
lightship,  skirt  the  coast  of  Long  Island  and  by  noon 
we  are  oft" Sandy  Hook,  sixteen  miles  from  New  York. 
The  water  is  thickly  studded  witli  crafts  of  all  shapes 
and  sizes,  some  standing  out  to  sea,  others  like  ourselves 
making  for  port.  Governor  and  Staten  islands  loom  up 
before  us  as  we  approach  the  Narrows.  Something 
strikes  us  that  the  country  we  are  approaching  is  Amer- 
ica, for  on  a  rocky  promontory  in  large  letters  visible  a 
mile  distant  is  an  advertisement  of  the  great  tonic,  Hop 
I  .liters.  Pass  the  forts  and  we  behold  the  glories  of 
New  York  harbor,  with  the  grand  suspension  bridge 
connecting  Williamsburg  with  New  York  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  tine  harbor  presents  a  lively  picture,  and  to 
give  a  good  description  would  till  many  pages,  so  we 
leave  it  for  the  present 
.  At  3  p.  m.  we  touch  the  pier  and  are  soon  once  more 


To  Europe  and  Back.  69 

on  terra  firma.  Adieus  are  said,  and  our  happy  family 
separate  with  little  hope  of  ever  meeting  again.  The 
custom  house  officers  are  very  courteous  and  kind, 
being  easily  satisfied  in  examiningour  baggage.  Spend 
a  short  time  in  the  Empire  City,  and  conclude  that  it 
is  about  the  liveliest  place  we  have  seen  during  our 
travels.  A  home  feeling  comes  over  us  and  we  look  , 
wistfully  further  westward  ;  take  passage  on  the  B.  and 
O.  R.  R.  and  speed  along  through  New  Jersey  and  Del- 
aware. The  centennial  grounds  are  passed,  then  our 
train  is  ferried  across  the  bay  to  Baltimore,  where  there 
is  several  hours  delay,  giving  us  time  to  partake  of  the 
worst  dish  of  oysters  we  had  ever  tasted,  which  con- 
vinced us  that  these  bivalves  improve  by  being  shipped 
some  distance  from  their  natural  element.  See  the 
spires  and  turrets  of  the  capital  as  we  pass ;  skirt  along 
the  shores  ot  the  great  Potomac.  All  was  quiet,  no  din 
of  battle;  but  its  waters  were  rusbing  and  filling  the 
banks.  Pass  Harper's  Ferry  ;  did  not  see  John  Brown, 
neither  did  we  stop,  but  like  his  soul,  we  kept  marching 
on;  through  the  Cumberland  valley  and  the  famous 
Blue  Ridge  mountains;  cross  the  Ohio  river  at  Parkers- 
burg  and  soon  reach  the  Queen  City,  then  by  steamer 
Telegraph  to  Maysville. 

Home  again,  fifteen  days  from  Glasgow  ;  distance 
nearly  four  thousand  miles  ;  cost  of  the  trip  in  the 
neighborhood  of  $300.  Hand  shaking,  kind  embraces 
and  pleasant  words  are  awaiting  us.  How  our  heart 
bounded  with  joy  to  grasp  the  hand  of  those  dear  friends 
extending  us  such  a  hearty  welcome.  The  sight  of 
those  kind  faces  almost  unnerve  us;  indeed,  it  is 
too  much  for  us  so  down  goes  the  curtain  ;  let  tender 
words  be  spoken  only  behind  the  scenes. 

Now  we  are  done,  having  written  these  letters  in  a 
simple  way  just  as  the  incidents  happened,  so  please  do 
not  be  to  critical.  Wishing  our  friends  on  either  side  of 
the  Atlantic  best  wishes  and  a  happy  new  year,  not 
forgetting  to  wish  the  New  Republican  and  its  thous- 
ands of  kind  readers  a  happy  and  prosperous  new  year, 
we  bow  our  head  and  say  adieu. 

These  letters  were  written  for  the  New  Republican  at  the 
close  of  tlie  year  1882. 


MISCELLANEOUS, 


A  SCOTCH  WEDDING. 


During  our  summer  rambles  in  Scotland  we  had  the 
good  fortune  to  receive  an  invitation  to  be  present  at 
one  of  those  most  blissful  occasions,  a  genuine  Scotch 
wedding.  They  still  adhere  to  the  same  old  custom  of 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  The  calling  of  the  bans  is 
the  starting  point,  tbis  is  done  in  the  parish  church,  on 
usually  the  three  Sundays  preceding  the  marriage. 
Some'by  paying  a  little  more  get  off  with  one  Sunday 
in  church,  as  they  call  it,  the  cost  of  this  is  from  $2  to  $5 ; 
then  the  day  and  the  hour  is  fixed  and  the  minister 
asked  to  perform  the  ceremony.  This  he  cheerfully 
complies  with,  although  he  receives  no  pecuniary  rec- 
ompense for  his  trouble,  for  he  never  loses  sight  of  the 
fact  that  marriage  is  a  sacrament  and  consequently  con- 
siders it  to  be  his  duty  to  administer  same  to  the  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation  free  of  charge,  often  driving 
many  miles  in  the  country  on  tins  peculiar  business  at 
his  own  expense.  You  may  rest  assured  that  we 
availed  ourselves  of  the  kind  invitation  and  were  on 
hand  in  good  time  to  see  the  nuptial  knot  securely  fast- 
ened. Tbe  impatient  bridegroom  reported  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  bride's  parents  nearly  an  hour  before  the 
time  appointed.  Tins  is  a  very  common  mistake  on  the 
part  of  the  sterner  sex  all  the  world  over,  for  they  have 
not  the  proper  appreciation  or  enough  consideration  as 
to  the  mysteries  of  a  lady's  toilet,  and  the  length  of 
time  to  make  her  presentable.  A  goodly  number  of 
friends  and  relations  have  arrived,  among  them  many 
bonnie  country  lassies;  tbe  parson  is  seen  coming  in 
the  distance  with  slow  and  solemn  steps,  on  such  an 
errand.  A  curious  stillness  prevails  as  he  enters,  the 
groom  stands  up  with  a  pale  frightened  look  about  him, 
he  no  doubt  realizes  the  importance  of  the  extraordinary 
step  he  is  taking,  the  bride  comes  forward,  very  bashful 


Jo  Europe  and  Back.  71 

and  modest,  a  scarlet  blush  mantles  her  cheek,  the  us- 
ual Presbyterian  questions  are  asked  and  answered  in 
the  affirmative:  I  pronounce  you  husband  and  wife, 
join  hands  sayeth  the  preacher,  and  all  is  over.  Like 
magic  the  whisky  bottle  comes  upon  the  scene,  the  rev- 
erend gentleman  is  the  first  to  propose  the  health  of  the 
newly  united  couple,  and  wishing  them  the  fullness  of 
joy  and  future  happiness  quaffs  off  his  glass  and  has  the 
consideration  to  leave  at  once.  The  company  is  greatly 
relieved  at  his  departure,  for  the  mirth  becomes  fast 
and  furious.  Supper  is  spread  with  true  Scotch  fare, 
including  good  large  bannocks  of  oaten  meal,  full  just- 
ice done  then  beer  goes  round,  the  rooms  are  cleared 
then  dancing  begings  after  another  round  of  Mountain 
Dew.  Such  leaping  and  swinging,  twisting  and  turn- 
ing, it  certainly  made  us  laugh  our  fill,  there  was 
scarcely  breathing  time  for  three  long  hours.  Before 
midnight  the  merry  makers  are  beginning  to  show  the 
effects  of  the  three  hours  active  exercise.  We  then  re- 
membered that  the  clergyman  had  neglected  part  of 
his  duty — namely,  kissing  the  bride,  of  course  we  very 
blushingly  performed  it  for  him,  at  the  same  time  tak- 
ing very  good  care  to  notice  that  the  groom  had  just 
stepped  out.  Hewever  the  young  lady  was  a  near  rel- 
ative of  ours,  so  it  did  no  harm,  and  thus  the  evening 
is  spent  very  pleasantly  and  at  the  weesma  hours,  after 
partaking  of  a  parting  glass  of  Glenlivot  each  laddie 
takes  bis  lassie  and  homeward  take  their  way,  leaving 
the  happy  couple  in  blissful  solitude.  None  were  full, 
but  simply  merry,  vowing  oft  to  meet  again  some  other 
day. 

A  NIGHT  ON  THE  IRISH  SEA. 

If  you  have  a  desire  to  get  well  shaken  up,  or  are  suf- 
fering from  a  serious  attack  of  biliousness,  or  if  you  feel 
out  of  sorts  with  the  world  generally — in  other  words 
having  a  chronic  disposition  to  be  despondent,  or  if  you 
are  materially  affected  with  matters  pertaining  to  the 
heart,  or  if  some  foolish  differences  have  occured  in  af- 
fairs connected  with  affections,  or  if  a  life  of  extrava- 
gance has  placed  you  in  a  desperate  mood,  or  if  you 
have  resolved  to  shun  society  through  blighted  prospect- 
ive happiness,  or  if  you  have  quarreled  with  your  better- 


72  To  Europe  and  Back. 

half  from  imaginary  causes  and  left  her  to  provide  for 
herself,  or  if  your  sweetheart  has  said  some  meaningless 
words  and  you  have  demanded  the  return  of  the  engage- 
ment ring  and  left  her  in  anger  but  with  a  choking 
sensation  in  your  throat,  or  if  you  have  made  up  your 
mind  to  turn  sailor  and  run  away  for  that  purpose,  or  if 
your  parents  have  been  rebellious  and  cutoff  the  liuan 
eial  supply  and  you  get  offended  and  rush  ott  to  distant 
climes,  or  if  you  feel  that  you  have  a  great  ileal  more 
brains  than  people  credit  you  with  and  you  feel  that 
you  are  not  in  the  proper  place  to  be  appreciated  in 
justice  to  your  merits,  or  if  you  have  an  idea  that  every- 
body has  some  spite  against  you  and  wish  you  at  Hong- 
kong, or  it  you  have  the  least  idea  that  there  is  a  rival 
in  the  way  and  danger  of  your  becoming  morbid,  or  if 
your  girl's  father  kindly  sees  you  safe  at  the  garden  gate 
at  the  point  of  a  No.  9  boot  and  you  become  indignant 
at  the  liberties  he  is  taking  with  you,  and  feel  deter 
mined  that  you  will  resent  it,  or  if  your  Lady  Love 
gives  you  a  hint  that  some  body  else  has  more  money, 
than  you,  and  you  stand  on  your  dignified  manhood 
and  leave  her  forever  and  defiantly.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  that  will  affect  such  a  speedy  cure  or  bring 
you  more  quickly  to  your  senses  thau  spending  a  night  on 
the  Irish  sea  on  one  of  those  miserable  trading  steamers 
that  ply  between  Liverpool,  Glasgow  and  the  different 
points  on  the  Irish  coast.  (Such  rocking  and  tossing, 
rolling  and  pitching,  and  what  a  promiscuous  medley  of 
a  cargo  cattle  and  horses,  sheep  and  pigs,  dressed  meat 
in  bokes( doubtless  slaughtered  a  week  ago  judging  from 
the  odor  emitted)  game  in  hampers  (probably  been 
traveling  by  rail  for  several  days)  herrings  in  boxes  (just 
on  the  eve  of  being  spoiled],  heavy  crates  of  vegetables, 
add  to  the  already  fragrant  atmosphere.  All  these  are 
well  secured  on  deck,  and  the  wild  fretful  chopping  sea 
keeps  them  well  submerged  with  brine  during  the  night, 
for  wave  after  wave  is  breaking  over  and  rushing  from 
one  side  of  the  deck  to  the  other.  Last  but  not  least  is 
the  passenger  stowed  away  under  hatches,  here  each  in- 
dividual has  much  as  he  can  attend  to  in  looking  after 
himself,  and  many  times  finds  it  a  good  deal  more  than 
he  is  able  to  perform,  for  indeed  he  is  often  led  to  be- 
lieve that  though  there  is  no  immediate  danger  of  get- 
ting drowned,  yet  there  is  certainly  great  risk  of  his 


7 j   Europt  and  Back.  7g 

being  turned  inside  out ;  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  see  a 
dozens  of  people  thrown  oft  their  feet  and  huddled  into 
a  heap  together,  the  steamer  lurching  and  creaking  as 
if  she  was  a  thing  of  life  in  the  death  throes,  and  by 
the  tiniw  the  night  is  half  over,  you  come  to  the  con 
elusion  that  all  of  the  ills  and  ailments  you  have  ever 
been  subjected  to  on  shore  are  but  a  foretaste  of  para- 
dise compared  with  this,  and  you  are  perfectly  willing 
to  endure  those  grievances  which  had  before  appeared 
unbearable,  if  indeed  there  are  any  hopes  of  your  survi- 
ving until  morning  under  this  Irish  si  a  treatment.  But 
one  by  one  the  hours  are  passing,  and  by  and  by  more 
dead  than  alive  you  find  yourself  in  Dublin  Bay,  or  Wa- 
terford,  or  perchance  Cork  harbor,  with  pale  cheeks  and 
haggard  countenance,  bones  aching,  the  limbs  tottering 
and  feeble,  and  the  stomach  in  a  very  weak  and  unset- 
tled condition,  in  fact  you  feel  entirely  cured  of  every- 
thing else  save  this  terrible  Irish  sea  distemper. 


THE  OLD  LETTER. 

What  wonderful  and  interesting  associations  are 
clustered  around  the  time  bedimiued  pages  of  an  old 
letter,  what  visions  a  perusal  of  it  awakens;  what 
thoughts  of  retrospection  fills  the  mind  as  we  gaze  on 
the  bold  round  lettering  ot  some  business  transaction  of 
years  ago,  perhaps  the  dim  leaf  and  neatly  written  lines 
is  the  beginning  of  a  correspondence  on  which  the 
foundation  of  a  prosperous  business  career  has  been  laid  ; 
the  successful  merchant  looks  and  smiles  upon  it  with 
the  fullest  sense  ef  pride  and  pleasure,  he  compares  the 
present  with  the  past,  his  surroundings  speak  for  the 
present,  while  the  seared  page  reminds  him  of  the  past, 
and  a  lowly  condition  perhaps,  and  so  it  is  filed  away 
as  a  precious  relic  of  years  gone  by.  Then  there  is  the 
friendly  missive,  the  page  sear  and  yellow,  years  have 
drifted  past  since  it  was  written,  the  little  green  mound 
in  the  quiet  chinch  yard  is  all  that  marks  the  last  rest- 
ing place  of  the  kind  hearted  writer,  how  we  scrutinize 
the  faded  slip  of  paper,  turn  it  over  and  over,  read  and 
re-read  it!  In  some  part  we  may  detect  a  vein  of  hu- 
mor which  almost  invokes  a  smile,  and  awakens  in  our 
mind  a  vivid  picture  of  the  merry  smiling  face  of  the 
author,  then  the  next  page  may  possess  a  pathos  and 
earnestness  that  we  cannot  help  feeling  how  tru£  and 


74  To   Kuropc  ami  Buik. 

devoted  the  friendship  had  been,  then  the  last  side, 
what  a  peculiar  seriousness  it  inspires,  there  is  even  a 
shivering  feeling  of  sadness  steals  over  the  mind,  for  it 
is  the  last  reminiscence  of  an  honest  heart ;  we  turn  it 
over  again,  and  again,  then  with  a  sigh  fold  and  care- 
fully lay  it  away,  while  the  fulness  of  the  heart  breathes 
forth  in  poetic  ardor. 

Faded  page,  oh  precious  treasure, 
Full  ol  bopes  and  kindly  favor, 
The  oftener  read  it,  pleases  better, 
Those  seared  lines  of  a  dear  old  letter. 

Last,  but  not  least,  conies  the  page  on  which  affect- 
ions lines  are  written,  every  word  breathes  but  the  lan- 
guage of  the  heart,  how  tenderly  the  thoughts  are  con- 
veyed, then  again  what  passionate  appeals,  what  plead- 
ings, what  assurances  of  devotion,  what  misgivings, 
hopes  and  fears,  are  traceable  on  this  worn,  musty  slip 
of  paper.  We  read  and  ponder,  and  follow  the  peculiar, 
yet  familiar  formation  of  each  letter  even  into  minute- 
ness, for  the  fingers  of  a  loved  one  had  traced  the  deli- 
cate lines  which  an  affectionate  heart  had  suggested  ;  time 
has  worn  the  lustre  of  newness,  but  the  flimsy  creased 
paper  speaks  to  the  heart  of  what  had  been,  and  also  of 
what  might  have  been.  Years  ago,  its  perusal  might 
have  filled  the  soul  with  bitterness,  we  may  have 
thought  that  it  carried  blighting  influence  within  the 
well  constructed  sentences.  These  animosities  are  all 
canceled  now,  time,  the  great  reasoner,  has  done  its 
work,  for  we  can  now  look  upon  all  with  the  same  font 
of  affection,  as  we  fondle  and  caress  the  crumpled  piece 
of  paper,  and  thus  we  look  and  read  and  think,  then 
think  and  read  again,  and  so  it  gh'es  pleasure  and 
sometimes  pain,  but  which  ever  it  may  be  it  will  cer- 
tainly make  us  better  and  truer  men  and  women,  in  a 
leisure  hour  to  look  over  and  study  the  contents  of  a 
dear  old  letter. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


Ql  JAN I? 


1989 


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